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Former Liverpool goalkeeper David James believes Arsenal will not win the Premier League title this season. He said that they might get stretched between the league and the UEFA Champions League towards the end of the season.
The Gunners have had a good start to the campaign and sit atop the Premier League standings. They are four points above second-placed Bournemouth and six above fifth-placed Manchester City. Liverpool, meanwhile, are seventh after four consecutive defeats and sit seven points behind the north London side.
David James, meanwhile, has predicted Arsenal to struggle this season and finish fourth. He hasn't changed his prediction, as he told Metro:
"I’d be foolish to say, no, I haven’t changed my mind about Arsenal with them at the top of the table. There’s something about Arsenal I really like. I like the numbers. They’ve improved in so many different areas. In the past, if they conceded, it was a weird stat for the majority of last season, that they would not score in the second-half if they conceded in the first-half."
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"It was a really weird stat, and I just questioned what was going on in the changing room. Now that’s changed now to the point that they’ve even come back from losing positions at half-time to win games," he added.
The former Liverpool goalkeeper said that the Gunners won't win the Premier League title, adding:
"I don’t think Arsenal will win the title if that’s an answer, even if they’ve started well. I think the likes of Man City Chelsea and Liverpool will go into the last weeks of the season, if not the last game of the season, and possibly decide the title race.
"But it will be interesting with Arteta to see how he handles qualification for the Champions League and maintain that top position in the Premier League, and I don’t think they’ll be able to do it," he added.
The Gunners have lost just one out of their 13 games across competitions, which came against Liverpool at Anfield.
Liverpool icon David James says Arsenal might struggle to balance Premier League and Champions League
The Gunners reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League last season, losing 3-1 on aggregate against eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). They have also finished second in the Premier League three seasons in a row.
David James said that it appeared that Mikel Arteta prioritized the Champions League last season, saying:
"The test for them, as I’m sure many people will say, is now that they’re top of the table, how are they going to handle that? There’s another caveat to this because last season they played 14 Champions League games which meant they played 14 Premier League games before those fixtures and they only won four and it appeared that there was a definite focus on the Champions League."
"Maybe that was because Liverpool started to run away with the title race quite early, but there seemed to be a lot of emphasis on the Champions League more so than the Premier League, especially towards the end of the season where there was a chance of obviously getting to the final. Now it’s how Mikel Arteta handles the balance of the Champions League and the Premier League, especially when you’re leading the Premier League," he added.
Arsenal will next host Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates in the EFL Cup Fourth Round on Wednesday, October 29. Meanwhile, Liverpool will host Crystal Palace in their respective fixture.
