I played for Liverpool but I've always been an Arsenal fan - it's in their DNA to slip up

Former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel has hinted that he expects Manchester City to beat Arsenal to the Premier League title, despite revealing his lifelong allegiance to the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta’s side currently sit above Man City in the Premier League table but the reigning Champions remain in the driving seat due to having a game in hand. But any slip-up from Pep Guardiola’s team could see Arsenal take advantage.

Liverpool sit in third place, but recent results, where they have lost to Everton and Crystal Palace and drawn with West Ham have seen them drop off the pace. It means that their hopes of a second league win under Jurgen Klopp are slowly fading away.

That’s something that has disappointed Babel. While he didn’t expect the dip in form from Liverpool, the 37-year-old has said that he expected a drop off from Arsenal due to it being ‘in their DNA’.

“It's been a very disappointing end to the season; as a former Liverpool player and now a big supporter of the team, it's been hard to deal with the Jurgen Klopp news,” he exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone. “We wanted to have a happy ending, and I feel like now it's getting really, really difficult in terms of the title race.

“Yes, of course, you can hope that Manchester City and Arsenal drop points, but we know, deep down, that City in particular won't do that. It's just very disappointing that the Jurgen Klopp story has to end this way.

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‌”It's unlike Liverpool, this dip in form over the last few weeks, especially when you think about how much was at stake in their season. It hurts, you know. Look, it's part of football; that's the unpredictable journey of the game and Liverpool aren't the first team to have experienced it.

‌”First of all, for the people who don't know, even before I joined Liverpool, I've always been an Arsenal supporter. So, if Liverpool cannot win the title, then I want Arsenal to win it, so I was happy they got the three points against Tottenham this weekend.

“I hope they can continue to apply pressure on Manchester City right up until the last game, but we know it's now very unlikely for City to slip up from here. It's still possible for Arsenal to slip up, just because that's unfortunately been a part of their DNA in recent times.

“But so far they've kept the title race very exciting, and I hope they continue to do so over the next few weeks.”

Arsenal return to action on Saturday as they take on AFC Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium (12:30pm kick-off). The early kick-off will give them a chance to open up a four-point gap ahead of City’s 5:30pm kick-off vs Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.