Mikel Arteta lauded the consistency of Bukayo Saka and his increased hunger to win after Saturday's routine 3-0 victory over Bournemouth at Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners swept aside Bournemouth as Saka's penalty opened the scoring before late second-half finishes from Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice sealed another much-needed victory.
With two games to spare, Arsenal have equalled their Premier League win tally from last season (26), only in 1930-31 (28) and 1970-71 (29) have the Gunners won more games in a single top-flight campaign.
That is in large part thanks to Saka, who became the first player to score 20 goals for Arsenal in a season (all competitions) since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019-20 (29 goals).
He is also the first Englishman to do so for the club since Theo Walcott in 2012-13 (21 goals) and Arteta was quick to praise star winger Saka.
"The level of consistency compared to last year is very similar," the Arsenal manager said at his post-match press conference.
"There are areas he's better in. I see a different edge to him in the way he competes. He loves winning more than three months ago."
Kai Haverz won Saka's first-half penalty, though Bournemouth may feel the Arsenal forward triggered contact with goalkeeper Mark Travers.
The Cherries also had a goal disallowed at 2-0 down when Dominic Solanke was adjudged to have fouled David Raya before Antoine Semenyo turned into an empty net.
A lengthy VAR check followed both decisions but Arteta refused to comment on either incident, suggesting he had not seen them back yet.
"The honest answer is I haven't seen any of the incidents because I knew you were going to ask me," he added.
"They said do you want to see it and I said no so I can give you an honest answer!"
All 10 of Arsenal’s outfield starters attempted at least one shot in this game, the first time this has happened in a Premier League game for the Gunners since January 2022 against Burnley.
Gabriel Magalhaes almost got in the act but his strike was ruled out late on for offside, before Rice managed to add gloss to a dominant performance.
Rice was playing for West Ham last season as Arsenal capitulated in the title race against Man City, though the England international is hoping for a different outcome this time around.
"I wasn't here last year but I can sense that we are embracing it," the Arsenal midfielder told TNT Sports as Man City prepare to host Wolves later on Saturday.
"Man City are a machine and they don't lose many. Anything can happen in football. Surprises can happen and miracles can happen and we just have to stay focused."
Arsenal will continue to go about their business in hope of Man City slipping up, the Gunners have won 14 of their 16 Premier League games in 2024 (D1 L1), scoring 51 goals and conceding just eight in reply.
Indeed, the Gunners have won the most points in the competition since the turn of the year (43), but Arteta's side remain reliant on favours from elsewhere in the title race.
Cooper sacked by Leicester after winless run
Leicester City have dismissed manager Steve Cooper after a run of four Premier League games without a win.
Cooper, who previously managed Leicester's rivals Nottingham Forest, only took charge of the Foxes for 15 games in all competitions.
He was appointed in June, after Enzo Maresca left to join Chelsea following Leicester's promotion back to the Premier League.
After going six league games without a win at the start of the season, Cooper appeared to have steadied the ship with victories over Bournemouth and Southampton.
However, a winless streak of four top-flight matches, in which Leicester lost to Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea, while drawing with Ipswich Town, has seen Cooper lose his position.
In a statement released on Sunday, Leicester confirmed Cooper's assistants Alan Tate and Steve Rands had also left the club, with Ben Dawson set to take charge until a replacement is appointed.
Former Brighton and Chelsea boss Graham Potter was reportedly in talks to join Leicester prior to Cooper's appointment in the summer.
The Foxes are 16th in the Premier League on 10 points after 12 games.
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool: Salah brace sends Reds eight points clear
Liverpool went eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as they came from behind to seal a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton at St Mary's.
Two second-half goals from Mohamed Salah turned Sunday's game on its head after Mateus Fernandes had given bottom club Southampton a surprise 2-1 lead.
Dominik Szoboszlai had given Liverpool a 30th-minute lead by curling home via the far post after Flynn Downes' dreadful clearance landed at his feet inside the area.
However, the outstanding Tyler Dibling was felled by Andrew Robertson for a Southampton penalty on the stroke of half-time. Adam Armstrong's spot-kick was repelled by Caoimhin Kelleher, but the striker kept his nerve to tuck home the equaliser.
Armstrong then turned provider when Fernandes swept home Southampton's second in the 56th minute, but their lead would not last.
Salah cushioned a searching Ryan Gravenberch pass beyond a stranded Alex McCarthy for 2-2 in the 65th minute, then saw his inswinging cross handled by Southampton substitute Yukinari Sugawara seven minutes from time.
The Egyptian scored what proved to be the winner from the resulting penalty, and he almost got a hat-trick when he crashed a shot off the base of the post in the 88th minute.
Southampton remain bottom of the table, five points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves. Liverpool, meanwhile, are sitting pretty ahead of next week’s meeting with Manchester City, who were routed 4-0 by Tottenham on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Salah helps Slot into history books
Despite a lacklustre defensive performance, Liverpool earned their 10th victory in 12 Premier League games this season (one draw, one defeat), thanks primarily to Salah's quality in attack.
Salah has become the first Liverpool player to score in five successive Premier League games since the Egyptian himself did so in seven straight matches in October 2021.
His penalty, meanwhile, was his 100th goal away from Anfield for the Reds across all competitions.
Slot has now joined former Chelsea bosses Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti as the fastest managers to reach 10 Premier League wins upon their arrival in the division.
'In eight years we never lived like this' – Guardiola shocked by City drop-off
Pep Guardiola admits he has been surprised by Manchester City's alarming dip in form, saying: "In eight years we never lived like this".
Guardiola is in the midst of the longest losing run of his managerial career, with City suffering a fifth straight defeat in all competitions on Saturday as they were thrashed 4-0 by Tottenham.
They have also lost three Premier League games in a row and could end the weekend eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool, who visit bottom club Southampton on Sunday.
It is their worst run in the competition since they lost three straight between February and March 2016, when they finished fourth under Manuel Pellegrini.
"In eight years we never lived this. I knew sooner or later we would drop," Guardiola said after Saturday's game.
"I never expected to lose three Premier League games in a row but we have been incredibly consistent again and again and again.
"Now we cannot deny the reality that sometimes happens in football and life is here."
City's drop-off has coincided with star midfielder Rodri – who won the Ballon d'Or last month – being sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Guardiola's side did not lose any of the 34 Premier League matches in which Rodri appeared last season, winning 27 and drawing seven, though they lost three of four when the Spaniard was absent.
Each of City's last six league defeats have come when Rodri has not featured, but former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes their poor run cannot be totally blamed on his injury.
"We've seen City lose the odd game here, but we've very rarely seen them outplayed in every department, but that's what we're watching," pundit Neville told Sky Sports.
"They look well short. As short as I've seen them since Pep's first season. I've not seen them as bad as this, how they've been in the last few weeks.
"He will have wanted that international break to come, thinking it would be a reset moment. But now here, it further entrenches the opinion this is a City side currently in decline.
"This is more than just Rodri, far more."
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