There was a perception a little more than a week ago that the Premier League title was a one-horse race.

Chris Sutton, former Blackburn Rovers striker, told Radio 5 Live, “let’s be honest, we all expect Manchester City to win the title again”.

This was not the only person who thought this way, but what a difference a week makes. Guardiola’s men look vulnerable after losing in the Carabao Cup to Newcastle United and to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league.

Even as Treble winners City remain the clear favourites for a fourth straight title, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham have made a start that suggests this won’t be a formality.

Gary Neville has predicted Arsenal will win the title before City visit Emirates Stadium on Sunday (16:30 BST).

Is Arsenal moving closer to Guardiola’s class of 2023-24 after blowing an eight-point lead late in the season?

In the seventh game of last season, Arsenal had 18 points to Manchester City’s 17.

Arsenal are unbeaten this season, but City are on top with 18 points and Arsenal on 17.

In their next 12 games, Arsenal won ten and drew two, taking them five points clear of City at the top – with a game in hand.

It took City a few games to peg them back and win the title.

On his podcast, Neville advised staying with them until nine or ten games remain.

A first title is very rarely won by running away – you have to crawl over the line to win it.

They fell apart late last season and made mistakes. We’ll see if they have matured once they get in that position again.

Despite having a smaller squad last season, Arsenal struggled to deal with injuries, especially to William Saliba at centre-back.

This summer, they added West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, Chelsea attacking midfielder Kai Havertz, Ajax full-back Jurrien Timber and Brentford goalkeeper David Raya to their squad.