William Gallas issues warning to Arsenal about Man City clash

William Gallas has warned Arsenal that they cannot afford to lose their showdown with Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The north London side head into the game looking to return to winning ways after they were pegged back and held to a 1-1 draw by Brentford last time out.

Arsenal have only won two of their last five Premier League outings and their lead at the top of the table has been cut down to three points ahead of Wednesday’s showdown – although Mikel Arteta’s men do have a game in hand over the Citizens.

Manchester City warmed up for their trip to The Emirates with a 3-1 home win over Aston Villa at the weekend and Pep Guardiola’s side have now won three of their last five outings in the top flight.

Former Arsenal captain Gallas, who was skipper when the Gunners challenged for the title but ultimately fell short in the 2007-08 campaign, has talked up the importance of the north London side not losing Wednesday’s showdown.

Mikel Arteta (Photo: Marco Iacobucci / depositphotos.com)

Speaking to Genting Casino, as quoted by Metro, Gallas said: “Arsenal have had some bad results recently and Man City are starting to look better. City beat Aston Villa and will travel to the Emirates with Arsenal not in great shape.

“Psychologically, maybe Arsenal are also a little bit down after and City will believe that they can get a result on Wednesday. They will believe that they can go back to Manchester with three points.

“The only thing I can say to Arsenal is do not lose. It doesn’t matter if you draw and, of course, a victory would be the best possible result, but they absolutely must not lose the game.

“If Arsenal lose on Wednesday it will be really, really hard for them to get in front of City for the rest of the season. The psychological effects of losing this game are massive. The Arsenal players will be down if they lose against City.”

Arsenal have not won the Premier League title since their legendary unbeaten season in the 2003-04 campaign under Arsene Wenger.

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (Photo: The Sport Review)

And the former Arsenal manager believes that the Gunners now find themselves in one of the very best positions to claim the title again after 19 years.

“You win it when you can win it and you don’t care too much about the rest you take the title and let the rest talk about it,” Wenger told beIN Sports.

“I agree the conditions next season won’t be as favourable as they are now so lets not miss this opportunity. Arsenal has 51 points after 21 games which is remarkable.

“I feel the usual threats are all out of the race. The only threat is City and even City is no not as dominant as they were last year or two years before and I feel since the start of the season City was more vulnerable defensively than before.”