Arsene Wenger has rubbished “the so-called experts” and insisted that Arsenal can beat Manchester City when they clash in a Premier League game this afternoon at the Ethihad Stadium.

Wenger

City top the league having won nine of their opening ten games. They have scored 35 goals and conceded just six, and already boast a healthy five-point lead over Manchester United in second place.

However City have an underwhelming record against Arsenal and have won only one of their last nine meetings in all competitions against Wenger’s side. And Wenger is confident his side can extend this impressive run this weekend.

“I believe we can beat them,” Wenger told Soccer AM.

“I’ve been told we’ve only lost once in the last nine fixtures against City, so let’s continue that.

“Maybe if I listen to the so-called experts, City are better than ever before, so that could be a bigger test for us.

“We have to try and contain them when they have the ball as they are a force going forward. The number of goals they’ve scored is quite impressive. It would be suicidal not to be careful defensively. We need to produce a strong defensive performance as a team. That might not be enough.

“It could be an open game as we will attack when we have the ball – although we won’t play with seven strikers.