Roy Keane has warned Arsenal that Manchester City are now ‘red-hot favourites’ to win the Premier League after the Gunners slipped up yet again. Arsenal were held to a 3-3 draw at home to 20th-placed Southampton on Friday night and have now failed to win their last three games in the top-flight. Mikel Arteta’s team were eight points clear earlier in the season but now have just a five-point lead over second-placed City – who have two games in hand – and host Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday in a title showdown.
City eased past Sheffield United 3-0 on Saturday to reach the FA Cup final and face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals as they look to become the second English team in history to win the treble, after Manchester United in 1999. United legend Keane was asked after the game if it would ‘irritate’ him if Manchester rivals City secured the treble and told ITV: ‘Yep! But no, no… I don’t begrudge teams who are successful, I know how hard it is to win a trophy. If City go on to win it (the treble) I’d honestly say well done. But we know how tough it is. They’ve got a few hurdles to get over in terms of Real Madrid. They’re red-hot favourites for the FA Cup and of course the Premier League. Very much so. The big problem is getting over Real Madrid.’
Fellow pundit Ian Wright tried to interject before ITV host Mark Pougatch turned to him to ask why he was looking at Keane in an unusual way. ‘I was just thinking about them doing the treble,’ Arsenal legend Wright said. ‘If they do the treble they’ll have won the league, so I’ll be disappointed with that. Winning the treble is an unbelievable achievement. If they can do that… I’ll probably be disappointed with that this season.’