Arsenal Critic Retracts Pre-Season Predictions and Makes Gunners Favourites for Premier League Title

Former Welsh midfielder and football pundit Robbie Savage believes that the Gunners have proved him wrong through their brilliant start to the season and insists that the Gunners are well on course to win their 14<sup>th Premier League title and are also real challengers for the Champions League trophy.

The Gunners are currently at the top of the league with 25 points, five clear of Chelsea who are second. The north London club have turned their season around, following their 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa for which the critics can be spared for their initial scepticism in billing the Gunners as the real deal.

However, since then, Arsenal have brushed aside competition from the likes of Tottenham, Napoli, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund without conceding a single goal. Their only blip during this period was their 2-0 loss to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup and a loss at home to Dortmund in the Champions League.

Arsenal will now face United at Old Trafford, a place which has not been a happy hunting ground for Arsene Wenger over the years. The Gunners were subjected to an 8-2 mauling at the hands of the Red Devils two seasons back and their last win at home of the Champions dates back to 2006 where Emmanuel Adebayor scored the winner for the Gunners. However, given the form that these two teams are currently in, it would not be an upset if the Gunners manage to upstage the Champions in their backyard and are being termed as favourites going into the game.

"It's time to face facts and admit what other pundits cannot bring themselves to admit. Not only do Arsenal have all the ingredients required to win the title, I'm beginning to think they will do it. The Gunners go to Manchester United on Sunday five points clear at the top, eight points ahead of their hosts and six ahead of Manchester City - my pre-season tip to win the Premier League," Savage wrote in the Mirror.

"Had they come unstuck at home against Liverpool and away to Borussia Dortmund, Arsene Wenger's men would have been knocked off the top in the title race and faced elimination from the ­Champions League.

"But they didn't just pass the big test. The Gunners came through with flying colours - to such an extent that ­Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp reckons they could win the European Cup. And that's not such a long shot when you think Arsenal have won away at both Dortmund and Bayern Munich - the two sides that contested last season's European Cup Final - in 2013," he concluded.