- Chris Sutton jumps to Arsenal’s defence
- Says they are where they want to be
- Takes aim at Man City
Chris Sutton has waxed lyrical over Arsenal while bringing up some of Manchester City’s disappointing results, ahead of this weekend’s clash.
The Premier League is unlikely to have been settled by full-time on Sunday, but whoever wins out of Man City and Arsenal will be a lot closer to the title than they were before.
The Citizens will be fancying their chances after punishing Chelsea with three second half scores at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal on the other hand were bested at home by Bournemouth, in what was a third successive defeat for the league leaders.
Clearly, City are in much better form. However, Chris Sutton has opted to give his backing to the Gunners ahead of the highly anticipated fixture.
Chris Sutton leaps to Arsenal’s defence
Sutton’s footballing allegiances belong to the likes of Celtic, Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City, but his latest comments would have fans believing he was an ex-Arsenal player.
After all, the pundit has launched a strong defence of Mikel Arteta’s team, claiming they are exactly ‘where they want to be’.
"They're where they want to be" 🔴
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) April 15, 2026
🗣️👀 @chris_sutton73 backs Arsenal to get a result at Manchester City#BBCFootball #AFC pic.twitter.com/fbyqkI0VPD
“Everybody will be writing Arsenal off at the weekend because of how insipid they were in terms of their attacking play,” he told BBC 5 Live Sport.
“And I understand that to some extent, but Arsenal are brilliant out of possession. Defensively they are absolutely exceptional.
“In many ways, if you’re in the Arsenal dressing room you’re loving it because they’re probably due something to go right for them in the final third. They’re probably due sort of the combination play to click. Arsenal are right where they want to be.”
Turning his attention to the Sky Blues, Sutton continued: “Manchester City, as good a team as they have been in recent weeks, they got walloped in the Champions League against Real Madrid and I think in the Premier League, they dropped points against West Ham in recent times.”
He added: “Everybody’s just looking at that performance against Bournemouth and viewing that, that Arsenal are going to crack. I don’t think it’s that simplistic.”
Sutton is ignoring Man City and Arsenal’s form
While praising Arsenal, Sutton has made no mention of the Carabao Cup final, which has proved to be a significant turning point in Man City’s season.
Indeed, Guardiola and his team have gone on to thrash both Liverpool and Chelsea since then while Sunday’s visitors have been defeated by two lesser sides.
Even on Wednesday night, Arsenal may have got the job done in the Champions League, but they scraped past Sporting CP.
Had the Gunners been forced to play Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, it is highly likely things would have ended differently for them.
Arsenal’s advantage has been overestimated
City are under some pressure on Sunday, but not nearly as much as Arsenal. After all, the Carabao Cup winners have already won a trophy this season and are favourties to lift the FA Cup too.
Whereas Arsenal will not currently be expected to beat Bayern Munich or PSG in the Champions League final. In fact, they might not even be predicted by most to progress past Atletico Madrid.
Therefore, the Premier League is a priority, but their lead is not as concrete as Sutton has made out. Because if Man City win then the gap between the teams can be reduced entirely, provided they win their game-in-hand.
It is Arsenal who ought to be worried on Sunday, but City should plenty of confidence to break down their opponent for a second time this year.
