Arsenal urged to 'wake up' before Premier League title clash against Manchester City - 'Take the handbrake off'

The Gunners travel to The Etihad six points clear at the top of the table but there is a growing feeling of anxiety after last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.

And TNT Sports pundit Keown has issued a rallying cry as Arsenal look to win their first league title in more than two decades.

"I think Manchester City are the favourites for this game," Keown said on TNT Sports' The Breakdown.

"It’s up to Arsenal to wake up, they have to wake up before this game. But they have to start to develop things better in the final third.

"They are too reliant on the goalkeeper [David Raya], they keep going back to him. He’s so proficient with the ball that if I was playing with him I’d keep going back to him, but it’s a trigger for the opponents to press. Arsenal then haven’t got that platform. They need more from the front three."

Former Chelsea and Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole, meanwhile, has suggested Arteta should "take the handbrake off" for the final run in.

"Mikel Arteta can be a top manager but he has to get over the line," Cole said. "This is where he will earn his money in the next few weeks. When I watch Arsenal play they are anxious and fearful, and when I look at Arteta he looks a bit anxious.

"I watched Man City last weekend at Chelsea and they dismantled them. Chelsea held their gloves up for 35-40 minutes and then Pep [Guardiola] got into them at half-time and they looked like the best team in the Premier League. Arsenal have been that team two or three months ago and they have to get it back.

"It’s important you don’t change your mannerisms around your group but, when the chips are down, the players are looking at the manager and he needs to be full of energy and belief and find a way to get the players to take the handbrake off, because none of them are playing to their top ability and that is because of whatever is going on between their ears."

A win for City, who are seeking a seventh Premier League title in 10 seasons, will see them move three points behind Arsenal with a game in hand - away to Burnley next Wednesday.

"Everything for Man City seems to be rising to this occasion at the Etihad when they can go and snatch it away from Arsenal," Keown added.

"But if they lose the match then I’m pretty certain there will be a rollicking for the players in the dressing room because Pep does not hold back from what I have seen, and they are following in the footsteps of an illustrious group.

"Does the crown fit on the heads of some of these players? I do think they have the mentality right and they have Pep.

"If Arsenal lose this game, I do think it could be terminal for the rest of the season.

"When you are winning games you don’t really know anything about who is sitting alongside you. When you lose, that’s when you know: who can I rely on? Can I win great things with this group or not? That inner belief gets you through and Pep is a master at it, so Arteta has to respond.

"There will be a collective togetherness like you have never seen before at the weekend."

Arteta's pre-match comments ahead of Sunday's monster meeting at the Etihad Stadium will go down well with both Keown and Cole.

The Spaniard has been accused of adopting a defensive mindset on recent trips to City but has hit back at suggestions that Arsenal will play for a draw on Sunday.

"We want to win the game," Arteta stated ahead of the potential title decider. "We are there to win the game.

"We haven’t talked about that [a draw]. We need to win the game. And we are preparing to win the game.

"There will be no difference to any stadium we have been to in the last five years. There’s no change there."

And on past defensive performances at the Etihad, Arteta added: "We're not going to propose a game like this because we never do that.

"Sometimes the opponent is that good, that forces you to be there and, in City's case, you're going to have moments that you do the same, deep in your box for periods of time, and that's the reality."

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