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Rio Ferdinand has picked when \u201cit could be goodnight\u201d Arsenal in the Premier League title race as a \u201cmomentum shift\u201d has Manchester City \u201csmelling blood\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Gunners were soundly beaten by City in the Carabao Cup final <\/strong>before Southampton dumped them out of the FA Cup on Saturday<\/strong> to leave them fighting on two fronts.<\/p>\n They face Sporting in first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday and sit nine points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table, though Pep Guardiola\u2019s side do have a game in hand.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Arsenal bottlemageddon schadenfreude is inevitable, absolutely fine and nothing new<\/strong><\/p>\n And although Ferdinand admits Arsenal have a decent run-in, he reckons it could be \u201cgoodnight\u201d if they lose their next two games.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t a slight at Arsenal and their players but at this moment it\u2019s about who deals with the pressure best and experience counts for a lot,\u201d Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cMan City have that so if they get within touching distance of Arsenal you guys are going to be in trouble because there\u2019s been a momentum shift.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know this walk, they\u2019ve walked this path too many times. Arsenal have walked it and finished runners-up so they don\u2019t know the winning element of this, they\u2019re still trying to get there.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where Mikel Arteta will earn his money. It\u2019s not easy, I\u2019m not saying it is, this is a difficult period of the season for Arsenal.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got Bournemouth at the weekend and that\u2019s a tough game, if you don\u2019t win that game\u2026 wow. And then you\u2019ve got an in-form Man City the week after? It could be goodnight.<\/p>\n \u201cArsenal have a decent run-in, are nine points clear and have one of the less fancied teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone had told you Arsenal would be in that position at this stage of the season with seven games to go, you would have bitten their arm off.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd yet I\u2019m hearing big parts of the fan base, especially online, saying they\u2019re not happy with Mikel Arteta and even some saying he needs to go. What is going on here?! Where are Arsenal fans at?\u201d<\/p>\n Ferdinand believes Man City can \u201csmell blood\u201d after outclassing Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final before crushing Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Man City can smell blood,\u201d Ferdinand said. \u201cI thought the cup final was massive for City because if they won the momentum shift could be a big factor in the run-in.<\/p>\n \u201cThen Arsenal get beat in the FA Cup and confidence is lowered again. If they win their game in hand it\u2019s down to six points and then they get to play Arsenal at home\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know man, it makes it very difficult for Arsenal. They\u2019re a dangerous animal now, City, and have the experience on Arsenal.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know what to do and have a manager who in the cup final I thought schooled Mikel Arteta and both sets of fans would have noticed that.<\/p>\n \u201cI still think Arsenal will win it, I think they still win it. But I thought they would win it by five or six points, now I think they\u2019ll just scrape over the line, but it doesn\u2019t matter how you get over the line as long as you do it.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: \u2018Pathetic\u2019 Arsenal are handing domestic Treble to Manchester City<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n