Arsenal are mentally weak and will finish third, says ex-Man United defender

Arsenal are mentally weak and will finish behind Manchester City and Chelsea this season, according to Danny Higginbotham.

The Gunners slipped to second in the Premier League table after a 5-1 loss at Liverpool last weekend and failed to reclaim top spot following a goalless draw with Manchester United on Wednesday night.

They’re missing the real scrappers and the real mentally strong players

Danny Higginbotham

And former Red Devils defender Higginbotham reckons Arsene Wenger’s men are missing “real scrappers” like Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit that saw Arsenal over the line in their 1998 title success.

“Arsenal are mentally weak. They always get to this stage and they’re doing all right and then they just fall flat on their face. They haven’t won any cup for nine years. They’ll finish third at best,” Higginbotham told TalkSport.

“There’s no doubt about it, it’s going to be Manchester City and Chelsea first and second. Whichever way it will go it’s going to be between the two of them and Arsenal will finish third because mentally, when it comes into this part of the season, they’re not strong enough.

“They’re missing the real scrappers and the real mentally strong players, like [Patrick] Vieira, like [Emmanuel] Petit, even [Thierry] Henry and people at the back.

“They haven’t got the mentality to carry it through at this moment in time. They need to get some of those [type of] players in.”