Patrick Vieira predicts where Arsenal are going to finish

Patrick Vieira believes that the Premier League title is “Arsenal’s to lose” after the Gunners regained top spot over the weekend.

The north London side bounced back from their defeat by Manchester City in the top flight last week by claiming a thrilling 4-2 comeback win over Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.

Pep Guardiola’s defending champions then squandered the chance to regain the top position when they ended up being pegged back and held to a 1-1 draw by Nottingham Forest later in the day.

Arsenal now sit two points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over last season’s champions – and former Gunners captain Vieira feels that Mikel Arteta’s side are firmly in the driving seat to win their first title since the Frenchman helped to fire Arsene Wenger’s team to their famous unbeaten triumph almost 20 years ago.

Speaking in an interview with William Hill, as quoted by Metro, Vieira said: “I think the Premier League title is Arsenal’s to lose, to be honest with you.

“I think Arsenal did really well against Aston Villa on Saturday, to bounce back with that 4-2 win at Villa Park. They are just in a really good place at the moment, with a lot of confidence.

“But I still believe Manchester City will chase Arsenal until the very last day of the Premier League season. But I think it’s Arsenal’s title to lose.”

Meanwhile, former Manchester United full-back Gary Neville has warned the Gunners that they will have to step up their performances at the back in the coming games if they want to continue to dominate the run-in.

Arsenal – who travel to Leicester City on Saturday – have conceded the fewest goals of any team in the top four this season but the Gunners have let in seven goals in their last four games in the top flight.

“After the result in midweek I felt it was critical for Arsenal to win at Aston Villa,” Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. “For so long that looked in doubt as Villa put in a good performance.

“But it was a really good and important victory for Arsenal in the end. There’s such a long way to go in the title race, it will twist back and forth.

“We’ve got an intriguing title race but it was good for Arsenal because they needed a good weekend after that Man City defeat.

“One thing I would say though is that Arsenal have conceded 12 goals in the last six games. One of the traits of a run-in is if you’re conceding goals and teams think they have a chance of scoring, it’s very difficult to win a league, it really is.

“They just need to watch that. This weekend will give them confidence and if they can get back to some clean sheets that will be really important.”

The post Patrick Vieira predicts where Arsenal are going to finish appeared first on The Sport Review.