Michael Owen makes Premier League title prediction amid Arsenal ‘wobble’
Michael Owen remains confident Arsenal will last the distance in the Premier League title race despite their recent ‘wobble’.
Sunday’s dramatic 3-2 defeat against Manchester United means the Gunners have taken just two points from their last three fixtures with stalemates against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest also raising question marks over the mentality of Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Manchester City and Aston Villa are now just four points adrift but Owen believes the long-time leaders have what it takes to get over the line.
He told Premier League Productions: ‘It’s given everyone a little bit of a chance. I don’t think Manchester City have been brilliant this season but wow, they’ve been playing pretty average and they’re only four points away from it. It’s a massive result for Aston Villa today and that claws them into contention as well.
‘I still think it’s Arsenal’s to give away I think they’re the best team in the league, they’re the most consistent and the most solid and probably the best squad.
‘But there are questions. They’ve not done it before or for a long, long time so we’ll see how it pans out. But two points from nine is a wobble.’
Arsenal will get an early chance to respond to that setback on Wednesday when they will look to round off their flawless Champions League group stage campaign against FC Kairat before a challenging trip to Elland Road at the weekend.
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Metro at the Match: Arsenal 2-3 Manchester United
Metro’s Tom Olver breaks down the winners and losers from Arsenal's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates.
Gabriel Jesus stutters in centre-forward audition
Given the nod over Viktor Gyokeres after an impressive brace against Inter Milan in midweek, Gabriel Jesus will no doubt have been itching to nail down his spot as Mikel Arteta's first-choice centre-forward.
But with the Gunners utterly dominant in the early exchanges, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard combined to provide the main threat from out wide - with the Brazilian a largely peripheral figure through the middle, in stark contrast with Bryan Mbeumo at the other end of the pitch.
It was more of the same from Jesus as the second half wore on and Mikel Arteta had seen enough by the 58th minute, with his side stumbling in search of an equaliser after a spirited fightback from the visitors.
A huge opportunity missed for the former Manchester City attacker as United threw a cat amongst the pigeons in this year's title race. It leaves Arteta with a tough call to make up front ahead of Arsenal's return to top-flight action at Leeds next weekend.
A rare moment to forget for Martin Zubimendi
Martin Zubimendi helped gift United a route back into the game with a horrible lapse in concentration at a crucial stage in the contest before half-time.
Arsenal's usually metronomic summer signing has hardly put a foot wrong since joining from Real Sociedad and the Spaniard could scarcely believe what he had done as Mbeumo latched onto his misplaced pass before calmly rounding David Raya and stroking the ball home.
An unwanted collector's item for Zubimendi and a moment he will not want to repeat any time soon.
Even ignoring his blunder, there was a distinct lack of creativity and urgency from Zubimendi when the hosts badly needed someone to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Arsenal match ratings: Raya 7, Timber 7, Saliba 5, Gabriel 5, Hincapie 6, Zubimendi 4, Rice 7, Odegaard 6, Saka 6, Trossard 6, Jesus 4. Subs: White 4, Merino 7, Eze 5, Madueke 5, Gyokeres 4.
A mixed day for Martinez
Martinez has endured surely his toughest period yet as a United player and things went bad to worse for the diminutive centre-back on the half-hour mark at the Emirates.
After being on the end of some scathing criticism from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, the Argentine will have been desperate to build on his encouraging display against Manchester City.
But another of United's Class of '92 was left less than impressed as Martinez - put under pressure from Jurrien Timber - directed the ball into his own net to open the scoring for Arsenal. 'He should deal with it,' said Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Martinez did, though, show great resilience to keep his chin up to help keep the likes of Saka, Trossard and Jesus quiet alongside a near-faultless Harry Maguire at the heart of Michael Carrick's defence.
Bryan Mbeumo the big-game competitor
Bryan Mbeumo further showed himself to be perhaps United's most shrewd piece of summer transfer business with just the latest in a long line of eye-catching performances for the club.
He more than deserved his first-half goal, helping force a rare misplaced pass from Zubimendi with some relentless pressing through the middle. The subsequent finish had all the coolness and confidence of a player well and truly at the peak of his powers.
It's no coincidence that United's resurgence under Michael Carrick has coincided with Mbeumo's welcome return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The £71million spent on Mbeumo will prove to be a steal if the Cameroon international continues in the same vein over the coming weeks and months, adding to his already impressive scoring tally.
Carrick won't mind Mbeumo's animated reaction to being substituted for Matheus Cunha in the 68th minute. It's exactly that kind of character and personality that the club have badly lacked for so long in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Patrick Dorgu comes of age
Michael Carrick was full of praise for Patrick Dorgu's 'immense' performance after a dream derby day for United - and the Dane picked up where he left off this weekend.
It's fair to say Dorgu has had an up-down start to his United career since becoming the first signing of Ruben Amorim's turbulent reign. But his talent has always been undoubted - the difference is he's is now beginning to showcase that ability on a far more consistent basis.
His 50th-minute wonder strike - which Neville branded 'the goal of a lifetime' - was the standout moment of quality... that's until Cunha provided some serious competition with his stunning effort to win it in the closing stages.
Such a shame that a suspected hamstring injury cut short Dorgu's showing with ten minutes remaining in the capital. Carrick will be praying it's not as bad as it first appeared so the youngster is able to make a speedy return to the fold.
Man Utd player ratings: Lammens 7, Dalot 6, Maguire 8, Martinez 6, Shaw 6, Casemiro 6, Mainoo 6, Amad 5, Fernandes 7, Dorgu 8, Mbeumo 8. Subs: Cunha 8, Sesko 5, Mazraoui 5.
Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, meanwhile, raised serious doubts about his old club’s capacity to withstand the pressure being applied by City and Villa.
Asked for his response to the last Arsenal skipper to lift the Premier League trophy, Arteta said: ‘That’s fine. We accept every opinion, where it’s coming from. They have the right reason to say it. At the end, we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to a match day.’
Arsenal appeared to be in cruise control when Lisandro Martinez put through his own goal in the first half, but once Bryan Mbeumo capitalised on Martin Zubimendi’s inexplicable error the hosts never truly recovered.
There appeared to be little on pressure on the midfielder when he turned and inexplicably played the ball across his own goal and straight to the feet of Mbeumo, who confidently rounded David Raya and finished for his ninth goal of the season.
‘I think we started the game really well, the first half hour we were very dominant,’ said Arteta. ‘After that we gave them the goal.
‘Errors are a part of football, very unlike us, but we gave them the goal and hope, and that shifted the energy because from half-time we really struggled especially to keep the ball in the right areas.
‘In the second half they had two brilliant goals, some individual quality and magic moments. I think we managed to shift the energy, score the second goal, and you could feel that everything changed. The game was ready to go and win it.’
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