Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher insisted Arsenal can be their own worst enemies in this title race after demolishing Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal took a giant step towards cementing their name as the title favourites this season with a stellar victory over arch-rivals Tottenham in the North London Derby at the Emirates. Mikel Arteta’s side demolished Spurs with a 4-1 scoreline, which established their supremacy in this fixture.
Leandro Trossard opened the scoring with ten minutes to go in the first half, before Eberechi Eze doubled the advantage before the break. It was a day of days for the former Crystal Palace star, who scored two more goals in the second half to complete a memorable hat-trick, a first for any player in the North London Derby in the Premier League era.
Coming back to Arsenal, the win opened up a six-point gap at the top over second-placed Chelsea. Over on Saturday, the Blues gained places in the standings after Manchester City lost out to Newcastle United, which now means Pep Guardiola’s side are seven points behind the Gunners.
A post on X from Sky Sports stated that only five times in Premier League history has a team come back from six or more points behind after 12 games to win the title. Incidentally, Manchester City were the last team to do it back in 2013/14, which does make for a good narrative in this particular title race.
However, the onus is on Arsenal to deliver and keep their momentum going after a stellar start to the campaign. While Arsenal are bubbling with optimism after the NLD victory, Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports via The Mirror stated Arteta’s side could prove to be their own worst enemy in this title race.
Carragher said, “The only team that can stop Arsenal winning the league is Arsenal; they are the best team. They are the best squad. The only thing that can stop them is their own heads, their own mentality. Maybe this crowd getting nervous in March and April, if the league is still up for grabs by then.”
“This would be the one. If they didn’t win it, I think we’d all point the finger at them and say, ‘You threw this away.’ I don’t think that’s ever been the case before. I always think the case has been that there has been a team slightly better than them in the Premier League, but that is definitely not the case this season.”
The comments from Carragher stem from the fact that Arteta’s side have failed to win the title in the last three seasons, when they also finished second. However, there needs to be some level of context applied to the reasons why Arsenal were runners-up on all three occasions.
The first of the three challenges came in 2022/23, when they were faced with a Treble-winning Manchester City side, but did cut a close chase in the season after. Last season, Arsenal were marred with massive injuries that left them to their bare bones when it comes to squad depth, something Arsenal have massively addressed in the summer.
This season, Arteta has probably the strongest side in the whole of the division, and as things stand, it would take a monumental drop in form for Arsenal to concede the title race. Carragher’s words may have some logic to them, but at the moment, the Gunners are the clear favourites for the Premier League crown.