Arsenal have been told that they are “two injuries away from disaster” but they are title contenders if they are able to keep their key players fit.
The Gunners recruited brilliantly in the summer as Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira were among their signings.
William Saliba’s return to the club has also been beneficial as he has slotted into Arsenal’s defence seamlessly alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.
Arsenal endured a heartbreaking end to last season but they are on a mission to put that right this term.
Mikel Arteta’s side have won 12 of their first 13 games at the start of this campaign. This has placed them at the top of the Premier League and they are also sitting pretty at the summit of their Europa League group.
Optimism is growing at Arsenal that they could mount a challenge for the title. They face Southampton, Nottm Forest, Chelsea and Wolves before the World Cup break.
If they come out of this run with a few more wins, Michael Owen thinks it will prove that they are “the real deal”.
Ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara has warned Arsenal that they are not far away from a “disaster”, however.
The pundit has claimed that if Gabriel Jesus gets injured, Eddie Nketiah would “not be good enough” to come in and spearhead their title charge.
“They’re two injuries away from disaster though, in my opinion,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.
“I mean if [Gabriel] Martinelli gets injured and if [Gabriel] Jesus – I mean Jesus wasn’t great yesterday, but he’s still massively important.
“If he gets injured, [Eddie] Nketiah’s not good enough to come and step in and carry on that title charge.
“So if they can keep them 11 players fit, I think Martinelli, [Granit] Xhaka’s been good, [Martin] Odegaard, [William] Saliba, if you can keep all these players fit, you are title contenders.
“If one of them gets injured, Manchester City have just got a better squad.”
He continued: “I don’t think it’s going to be the walk in the park that everyone’s making out though for Man City. I really don’t.
“Arsenal are a good side, I said October was a massive month for Arsenal. They had the north London derby, they had Liverpool, they had Leeds away.
“The Manchester City game obviously got postponed, Europa League fixtures, Thursday nights, you’re going to have to change and rotate the squad.
“But they’ve come through every game unscathed at the minute, so that says a lot about what Arteta is doing.”
On Arsenal’s slightly fortunate 1-0 win over Leeds, O’Hara added: “I’ll put my bias aside, [Arsenal] got pumped. How Leeds didn’t get anything from the game.
“They absolutely battered Arsenal, they really did.”
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