Thierry Henry delivers brutal Arsenal title verdict to Mikel Arteta ahead of Chelsea clash
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes that his former club will be out of the title race altogether if they lose against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Sunday's derby clash
by Dan Marsh · The MirrorThierry Henry insists Arsenal cannot currently be considered as title contenders - and that a loss against Chelsea this weekend would put them OUT of the race altogether.
The Gunners have emerged as Manchester City's closest rivals in the last two seasons and are widely seen as the team most likely to overhaul the Premier League champions after being revitalised by Mikel Arteta in recent years.
However, Arsenal are currently in the midst of a poor run of form. They head into Sunday's crunch London derby having lost two of their last three league games to leave them in fifth spot, some seven points behind Liverpool at the summit.
And after watching his former club lose to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday night, Henry feels they do not currently look like a team capable of challenging for the title, though he stressed there was plenty of time for the tide to turn.
Henry was asked if Arsenal were still title contenders and the CBS Sports pundit replied: "Right now they’re not they’re not challenging for the league, obviously as you can see the results are not good enough to be able to be at the top, still a long way to go.
"But my issue, and always has been, we talked about it on matchday two [after Arsenal drew with Atalanta], away from home I don’t think it was good enough. But we were getting away with it for a very long time, now we’re not any more.
"That’s what I’m saying, let’s see what’s going to happen against Chelsea."
Join the debate! Do you agree with Henry's verdict? Let us know here.
After criticising Arsenal's away form, Henry then stressed that defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge could prove to be all but terminal for the Gunners' title hopes, adding: "I think it [would] be extremely difficult.
"Why? Because you have too many teams to catch. One team can have a problem, but one or two – we’re going with Liverpool and Man City – I don’t see two teams collapsing, that’s my issue."
While Henry ended the night harbouring concerns, Arteta insisted that his team would be fine against Chelsea if they could replicate their performance against Inter on Sunday.
The Spaniard said post-match: "If we play the way we play, we‘ll have a big chance to win against Chelsea. That‘s the way we have to go. I told them that I’m proud of them.
"For sure, this is the way that I want to see my team. All the big games that we have in Europe by far this was the best one that we played in the last few years."
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Sky Sports deal
Sky Sports launches discounted Premier League package
£46 (was £56)
Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £240 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.