'I remember speaking to Arsene': Keown makes PL title race prediction as Man City now playing catch-up to Liverpool
Today at 03:15 PM
An exciting Premier League title race is shaping up with a resurgent Liverpool topping the table ahead of the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool have had an amazing season so far and are now favourites to win the title, while Man City are currently in the worst run of form under Pep Guardiola.
The Citizens lost five games in a row before letting a 3-0 lead slip against Feyenoord in their midweek Champions League encounter, which finished 3-3.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton are all level on 22 points and will hope to close the gap on the Reds over the busy festive period.
With Man City in such a poor run of form at present, some are debating whether this is the end of an era for the Etihad Stadium side.
Martin Keown has now spoken about Man City as he drew on his experience with the Invincibles to share what things must be like inside the Citizens dressing room.
READ MORE: Liverpool boss Arne Slot says Pep Guardiola has done something at Man City that he doesn't like
Martin Keown backs Manchester City to ‘jump out’ of bad patch
Keown, speaking on talkSPORT, believes Man City are in the same predicament as Arsenal were after their various unbeaten runs.
However, he predicted that the Citizens will get out of this predicament under their “outstanding” manager.
“[City] are not so used to losing,” said Keown, whose former team had a 49-game unbeaten run in the mid-2000s.
"Because when you are winning, your chest is out, you’re proud, you know, we’re unbeatable. And then when that goes, it can disappear, it can fall apart. And I think that’s where they are right now.
"So their excellence in the past has affected how they recover, you know, because the building is like a morgue.
"It’s like no one’s used to losing. I learned this when I went to Leicester and I went to Reading.
"There are players there that have had, you know, slip ups. You know, it’s almost like a major event when you lose a game. It’s an occupational hazard everywhere else. But at big clubs, it doesn’t happen.
"So I expect them to jump out of this and they’ve got the tools to do that. Pep is an outstanding manager.”
Keown compares Man City to Arsenal Invincibles
Keown noted how difficult it is when a team is used to winning but then goes through a bad patch.
"When you are winning every week everyone on the outside looks and says, oh, you’re amazing,” said Keown.
"We had this with the Invincibles and other seasons where we went unbeaten for a large period.
"On the inside, I remember speaking to [manager] Arsene Wenger and he was saying, ‘Look, if we lose a game, you know…’.
Man City have missed Rodri and David Ornstein has reported that they are likely to look for a defensive midfielder in the January transfer window.
