Jose Mourinho has admitted he would like to see Arsenal win the Premier League title this season, but Manchester City and Liverpool are the only realistic contenders.
The Gunners lead the way after 17 rounds of fixtures, sitting one point clear of Liverpool and Aston Villa, with reigning champions City five points off the pace.
Speaking on John Obi Mikel on The Obi One Podcast, Roma boss Mourinho was asked for his thoughts about who will win this year’s title.
“I would say Man City 51 [per cent], and Liverpool 49 [per cent].” Mourinho replied.
When first asked about Arsenal’s hopes, Mourinho simply replied: “Nah!”
“Rivalry apart, I would like them to win,” he added before ruling his former sides out of contention.
“Of course, Chelsea is not going to win. It is out of the question. Of course, Manchester United is not going to win it too, I don’t speak about Man Utd. So it is between these three and out of these three I would like Arsenal to win it.
“But 51, 49. And I say 51, 49 because when the accumulation of matches are coming Man City has two teams.”
During his time in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, Mourinho spoke glowingly of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, urging the Gunners to stand by him during a tough spell.
“I want to give a good word to Mikel because he gave us a very difficult game,” Mourinho said of Arteta after Spurs beat Arsenal 2-0 in December 2020.
“Tactically, they are very good. They gave us problems. I can imagine tomorrow the headlines will be about them not being in a good position in the table but I believe with these players, with Mikel Arsenal will be Arsenal again.”
Arsenal have since come on leaps and bounds under Arteta’s management, pushing Man City all the way in last season’s title race and finishing with 83 points in the Premier League – a joint-record high since their move to the Emirates Stadium in 2006.
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