'This is why' - Man City chairman makes Arsenal comment about Premier League title race

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has made the surprising admission that defeat against Arsenal early in the season was when he knew his team would win the Premier League for the fourth time in a row.

Arsenal challenged City for the title for the second year in a row during the 2023/24 campaign, taking the title race to the final day of the season. While the Gunners came out as winners against Everton, Man City’s victory vs West Ham was enough to see them finish above the Gunners.

During the season, there are games that clubs are usually able to pick out that were crucial in the title run. For the City chief it was a 1-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium back in October.

Gabriel Martinelli scored the only goal of the game in the 86th minute. Speaking to City's website, Al Mubarak has earmarked the game at the Emirates Stadium as a crucial one.

“Arsenal away,” he said when talking about when he know the club would win the title again. “We didn’t play particularly well. We didn’t play particularly bad.

“I think it was an off game by our standards. But I don’t think we deserved to lose. If you remember, we lost with that deflected goal in the last minutes.

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“I said, this is why we’re going to win the league. Today, I know how this team is going to react going forward and I know we’re going to win the league.”

A 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium in March means that Arsenal were unbeaten by City throughout the season. The Gunners also came out as winners in a penalty shootout in the Community Shield back in August.