Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes the fact that Manchester City are trailing the Gunners by five points could be an advantage for the current Premier League champions.

Pep Guardiola’s side will be the ones doing the chasing after the World Cup and Wright says he feels the “pressure” that City could apply may prove too much for their title rivals:

“If I am Man City, I will sit back and say, ‘Okay, Arsenal are the runners with us now’. We know that Man City can put the pressure. The pressure can come off Man City and they can relax and start playing… I think it’s better to chase because you haven’t got anywhere else to go. You just have to keep winning that next one. If you are drawing, then you are hoping they lose.”

The fact that the Citizens have been in multiple title races that have gone down to the wire means they should be confident of overhauling Arsenal at the top of the table.

As Wright points out, it will be up to the Gunners to maintain their lead at the top and any dropped points will be seen as a sign of weakness that City could pounce upon.

Of course, there is a lot of football to be played between now and May so we shall have to wait and see how both teams perform when the Premier League returns next month.