Joe Cole names the team who can deny Arsenal the Premier League title

Joe Cole has backed Arsenal to win the Premier League but insists they will be ‘pushed all the way’ by one title rival.

Winning eight of their first ten league games has seen Arsenal open up a six-point lead at the top of the table.

Only one team in the Premier League has scored more goals than the Gunners but their real superpower has been a brilliantly tight defence which has conceded just three goals in all competitions.

Arsenal’s early-season form – plus Liverpool and Manchester City’s inconsistent run of results – has made Mikel Arteta’s side the short favourites to win the Premier League.

The last time Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions was back in 2004 and they have finished as runners-up for the past three seasons.

Cole believes the Gunners’ wait for a league title could soon be over but has warned Arteta and his team that Liverpool will ‘push them all the way’.

Four successive league defeats saw the defending champions slip seven points behind Arsenal, but Arne Slot’s side returned to winning ways at the weekend against Aston Villa.

Liverpool’s possible revival continued on Tuesday night as they beat Real Madrid in the Champions League thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s second-half goal.

Cole was hugely impressed by Liverpool against Villa and Madrid and believes they are now primed to mount a challenge for both the Premier League and Champions League.

‘I thought they were brilliant against Villa at the weekend and I thought they were equally outstanding tonight,’ Cole said on TNT Sports.

‘It’s a marquee win. They really took Real Madrid to the sword. It could have been three or four. [Thibaut] Courtois was brilliant. I think it’s a marker down for them to say, we are at it again.

‘I think Liverpool will kick on and I think they’ll push Arsenal all the way in the league and I think they’ve got a right good chance in the Champions League.’

Explaining why he is backing Arsenal to be crowned Premier League champions, Cole added: ‘I think Arsenal will win the league and maybe the Champions League as well. I really think they’re brilliant.’

Liverpool’s improved form will be put to the test this weekend when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City.

Discussing Liverpool’s poor run after the encouraging win over Real Madrid, Slot said: ‘It is nicer if you win games than if you lose as a manager.

‘If you lose then it takes all of your time because you so badly want to change it but you also try to be the same manager and person that you are when you are winning.

‘Sunday [against Man City] is another game coming up against a very strong team. We have lost too many points in the Premier League but in the Champions League we are doing well.

‘We need to do better and that is what we are going to try and there’s a lot of games coming up for us to show that.’

By the time Manchester City host Liverpool on Sunday, Arsenal could be nine points clear at the top of the Premier League as they travel to Sunderland earlier in the weekend.

As well as hoping to extend their lead at the top of the table, Arsenal will attempt to keep a ninth successive clean sheet, which would be a club record.

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