Ex-Premier League Boss Predicts Saka To Fire Arsenal To The Title

By The Editor
on 7th October 2024

Alan Pardew feels Saka has gone up a level…

Former Premier League boss Alan Pardew is sticking with his prediction of Arsenal clinching the title in May and believes Mikel Arteta’s side are looking stronger this season, talkSPORT reports.

Pardew spoke after we continued our unbeaten run this season with a 3-1 win against Southampton on Saturday, having to come from behind to snatch all three points.

Bukayo Saka was the show’s star with the 23-year-old having a hand in all three goals as he took his tally of goal involvements to nine for the campaign.

Saka has been elevated to being part of the club’s leadership group, which was reflected in the squad’s team photo for the season – the Hale End graduate sat next to Mikel Arteta with skipper Martin Odegaard seated to the manager’s right.

Pardew feels that Saka’s form, coupled with the strength of the Gunners squad will help them get over the line – though he did mention a certain mitigating circumstance.

“Saka, again, underlining his quality to that team,” the former Newcastle United boss said.

“They’re looking like real, proper contenders like they did last year – they’ve not fallen away. In fact, you could argue that they look stronger.

“This is going to go down to the wire and I’ve already predicted them to be champions because I think there’s going to be some financial penalty for Manchester City anyway.

“I think they will win it but there’s still a long way to go.”

Arsenal are currently level on points with Manchester City having already travelled to the Etihad Stadium last month – losing all three points to a last-minute equaliser after playing 60 minutes with 10 men.

However, without Rodri, Pep Guardiola’s men now look fallible and teams feel like they have a chance against them – irrespective of the location.

The champions needed to scrap to earn all three points at home to Fulham in a cagey 3-2 win, with Marco Silva’s men wasting a hatful of chances.

That will hopefully encourage more teams to take the fight to them and we’ll likely see the Citizens drop more unexpected points.