London: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits the two Manchester clubs are the ones to beat in this season's Premier League title race.
Manchester United and Manchester City go head-to-head on Sunday at Old Trafford, with City holding a two-point lead over the current champions.
Alex Ferguson’s side are chasing their 20th league title while City are still after their first since 1968, but Wenger insists they are more than capable of being crowned champions this season.
"Yes, of course they are the teams to catch," he told Arsenal Player.
"They have had good starts and have strong squads," he continued. "You do not expect them to drop too many points but still I believe you could see that it is different for City and United in the Champions League. So everybody will drop points."
Despite the importance on Sunday’s game, which would see City go five points clear of United with a victory, the Frenchman believes it’s too early in the season to call it a title-decider.
"It's very early to call Sunday's game a decider and it's amazing how quick people make conclusions," he added. "Let's not forget we have played eight games and we have 30 to go. Never has the championship been decided after nine games."
"It will be an interesting game to watch but overall whatever happens in this game, the championship is still open. For everybody else in the Premier League, the most interesting result would be a draw."
The Gunners face Stoke City on Sunday, who have had 24 hours less than Arsenal to recover after beating Maccabi Tel-Aviv 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday night, and Wenger is hopeful this will give his side the edge.
"It's hard to play in the Premier League after European games but let's hope they suffer a little bit!" he added.
"It's very important for us to play to our strengths and not hope that Stoke are weaker because they have played in Europe," Wenger continued. "We are expecting a good opponent and for us, to continue to focus."
"I feel the team has a good basis because the players are intelligent, they have a desire to do well and you can see the unity in the group is there. We have good ingredients but let's continue to be humble and have the desire to grow as a team."
Stoke lost to Sunderland and Swansea City in previous games in the competition, and have not won at Arsenal for 30 years, but Wenger is not prepared to let that particular stat let his side lose focus on the task ahead.
"Are they a different side away? It depends, the seasons before maybe, this season I don't know."
"It doesn't matter for us, what is important is to win our game. A 1-0 victory against Stoke would be great, so let's just focus, use the confidence lift from Marseille and go into the Stoke game to keep our run going."
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