Joe Hart demands faltering Manchester City improve by one million per cent

The club are just three points behind the Premier League’s surprise leaders Leicester City and one point behind Arsenal, who they face at the Emirates Stadium next Monday night. Oh yes, we also have the Premier League’s record-breaking goalscorer as well, the player with the most assists, three of the fastest players in the top flight…. 13/5-rated Arsenal are also a pretty decent bet for this season’s title, as the addition of a strong goalkeeper in Petr Cech resolves a weakness that has undermined them in previous years, as well as the superb form of Mesut Ozil. “We know every couple of weeks people will have off days”.

“It’s a shame it needs the dragon to be poked before we come out of the cage”, he added. Those predictions are in tatters now, but the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal should not be ruled out.

We look at the best performers from the Premier League this season.

“What we need is some backup to make sure we have a guy that can hold the fort if [Mathieu] Flamini gets injured”. Arsenal have to be considered the favourites due to the quality of football they are now playing and Manchester City’s surprising inconsistency, which has not been helped by suspect defending. We probably were [tired against Swansea] but it’s not an excuse I’ll use.

He said: “Vinny would say the same thing”.

Those results extended United’s run without a win to five games and has heaped the pressure on Van Gaal, who has subsequently found himself at the receiving end of criticism for his team’s recent results as well as their lack of goals this term.

With 22 games left and 66 points still to play for there are plenty of twists and turns to come yet, but nobody can deny that the Foxes have put themselves in a commanding position. “It’s not just him – we have good defenders – but if we could keep the whole squad fit, we will be in a better place”. “We have players who do the job filling in”. Manchester City will be significantly weakened if Kompany and Aguero fail to prove their fitness, and if the former is ruled out then I think Arsenal to win and both teams to score at 3/1 represents excellent value.