Bacary Sagna names Man City's biggest title rival and snubs Liverpool

Bacary Sagna has named Manchester City’s biggest Premier League title rival this season and overlooked Liverpool following their slow start to the campaign.

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Man City and Liverpool have been the dominant teams in England in recent years, with Pep Guardiola’s side clinching their fourth title in five seasons in May.

Liverpool, who won the title in 2020, finished just one point behind City last season but have made an underwhelming start to the 2022-23 campaign, winning just two of their opening six matches.

As a result, former Premier League defender Sagna cannot see Liverpool challenging for the title and believes Man City’s biggest threat will come from early leaders Arsenal.

The Gunners only finished fifth last season but have made a superb start this term, winning their first five games before losing 3-1 at Old Trafford at the weekend.

Sagna, who played for both Arsenal and Manchester City, told Betway: ‘I feel Arsenal can be the main competition to Man City for the Premier League title, who of course remain the very strong favourites.

‘I don’t see any other team that can challenge them. Of course you can’t totally rule out Liverpool, but they have lost Sadio Mane and don’t look the same without him.

‘Mane and Mohamed Salah complemented each other so well and were so consistent, I’m not sure Liverpool will be feared in quite the same way this season.

‘I think teams are just paying the way they want to play rather than just working defensively to stop Mane and Salah. Having already dropped points it’ll be difficult for Liverpool to catch up.

‘With Arsenal having made a great start it feels like they could be the main contenders to compete with this incredible Manchester City side for the Premier League title.’

Sagna spent seven years at Arsenal, making 284 appearances for the club and helping Arsene Wenger win the FA Cup in 2014.

The ex-France star has been impressed by Arsenal’s progress and believes his former team-mate Mikel Arteta deserves praise.

He added: ‘I think it’s a continuation of what happened last season. We can see that the club are trying to build a team based on specific qualities when they recruit players and it’s working very well for them.

‘They brought in quality players last year. I was not convinced at the beginning because of the age of some of them and the lack of experience, but it’s worked perfectly. I feel last year was just a warm-up for what we can expect during the next year or two.

‘It’s a solid team, a very well-structured team. We have to give Mikel [Arteta] great credit because he took the criticism on his back and he always put the team first.

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‘He is now overseeing the building of an excellent Arsenal team for what has always been a fantastic football club.’

Sagna has also backed his former Manchester City team-mate Gabriel Jesus to flourish at Arsenal. The £50m summer signing has already registered three goals and three assists this season.

‘Gabby is perfect for Arsenal,’ Sagna said. ‘He is very clever on the pitch, he knows where to press, he is always there to put pressure on you.

‘As a defender, he is annoying to play against because he has skills, he is powerful and in front of goal he is clinical.

‘I think he is the kind of player who needs to play regularly to perform. It was a bit difficult for him at Man City not being able to produce what he could every single weekend.

‘I was also like that. I needed to be playing regularly to be perfect physically and mentally.

‘He is a natural fit at Arsenal because it is a team that uses young players and has the right mentality for him. It’s a nice environment.’

Arsenal continue their Premier League campaign against Everton next weekend, while reigning champions Manchester City host Tottenham.

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