Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown thinks Manchester City will use being charged by the Premier League “as fuel to get back to the top” of the table.
The Gunners are currently five points clear of second-placed City with a game in hand after both sides lost over the weekend.
Arsenal were edged out by Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park in Sean Dyche’s first match in charge of the Toffees, while Man City failed to take advantage of the Gunners’ slip-up as they lost by the same scoreline to Tottenham.
That has allowed Manchester United into the title race with Erik ten Hag’s men three points behind the Citizens – but that has been the least of City’s worries this week after the Premier League charged them with more than 100 alleged financial rule breaches.
There have already been calls from the rest of the Premier League and some pundits to relegate the club if they are found guilty of the alleged breaches.
But Keown is worried that Man City’s players could be galvanised by the off-field issues and threaten Arsenal at the summit of the league.
“I’m pretty certain this will only galvanise the City players,” Keown told talkSPORT. “This can be used as fuel to get back to the top of the Premier League table.
“There’s a feeling that the world is against them now, the ramifications are huge. These players will want to hit back, they’ll use this as energy.
“They’ll have the best lawyers in the world against this and they’ll want to get the truth out.”
Erling Haaland has come in for some criticism in recent weeks as Man City have been out of form but his team-mate Kyle Walker insists the Norway international is gradually adapting to the way they play.
“I think it’s a process,” Walker said of Haaland’s adaptation.
“Everyone that has come to Manchester City, I have been here for six years, it is a difficult team to fit in because the manager (Pep Guardiola) demands so much.
“The way we play is unique but, listen, Erling has been fantastic. No-one says anything about Erling when he is scoring goals, everyone all of a sudden is now when we don’t win and he doesn’t score are saying ‘is it a problem or do we play better without Erling?’
“I hear it all the time but he has got I think 25 goals already this season. He’s a fantastic player, this is the team we’ve got and the players we’ve got from now until the end of the season so we’re going to fight like we always do.”
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