Jose Mourinho's brutal title race prediction appears to be coming true after a weekend of twists in the Premier League.
Arsenal and Liverpool were joint-top of the Premier League table at the start of the weekend, but by Sunday evening they found themselves trailing defending champions Manchester City.
After City thrashes Luton Town 5-1 on Saturday, Liverpool suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Anfield.
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Jurgen Klopp's side had not lost a home match in over a year, but a combination of wasteful finishing and superb defending condemned them to defeat.
That gave Arsenal the chance to go clear at the top of the pile, but they too slipped up on home turf.
Mikel Arteta's side fell 2-0 to Champions League-chasing Aston Villa, with Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins scoring late on at the Emirates Stadium.
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City now top the table with 73 points, two ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool with six matches left to play.
Arsenal were in imperious form for the first few months of 2024, so Sunday's defeat will come as a surprise to many.
They are still right in the title race, but Jose Mourinho's prediction looks like it has a decent chance of coming true.
During his appearance on The Obi One Podcast earlier this year, Mourinho was asked to pick his title winner.
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"Man City 51 per cent and Liverpool 49 per cent," the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss replied.
When asked about Arsenal he simply replied: "Nah!"
Despite his side's stutter, Arsenal boss Arteta was bullish about his side after the match.
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Asked if there was a danger that Arsenal’s season could fizzle out after the defeat, he said: "If one result is going to do that then we are not strong enough. That’s very simple.
"We had one of the best performances that we’ve had all season in the first half against a really good team. It should have been three or four or more.
"It didn’t happen. In the second half the momentum shifted. We could not control and generate what we did in the first half. We conceded two very poor goals and we lost the game.
“Congratulate the opponent and stand up. Now the moment is to stand up and be counted. When you win and win and win for four months it’s very simple to do it. The moment to do it is now."
Topics: Premier League, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Jose Mourinho, Football
Alex Brotherton