I think this is the year – Bukayo Saka backs Arsenal to dethrone Man City

Bukayo Saka is convinced this will be the season that Arsenal beat Manchester City to the Premier League title.

Saka, 23, made the claim following Arsenal’s impressive 2-0 Champions League win against Paris St Germain at the Emirates.

Stand-in captain Saka doubled the hosts’ advantage with 10 minutes of the first half remaining after Kai Havertz had headed the opener.

The statement win, against a side which reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, came three days after a stoppage-time victory over Leicester which took Arsenal level on points with rivals’ City.

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Arsenal have finished runners-up to Pep Guardiola’s side for the past two seasons, but when asked if the Gunners are ready to deliver their first league title since 2004, Saka, speaking on CBS, replied: “I don’t want to put too much pressure on us, but I do think this is the year.

“We have been close for the past two years and we are getting closer, but, yes, hopefully this will be the year.

“There is a lot of hunger in my belly. In previous years we have finished runners-up, but that spirit in me is that I want to win this season and I believe in myself a lot.”

After opening their Champions League campaign with a goalless draw at Atalanta, Arsenal fired a warning to their European rivals with a win that rarely looked in doubt.

Saka continued: “When I was speaking with the boys in the team talk before the game I made sure that I said, ‘Today we need to make a big statement’.

“When we have played in Europe against the big teams we haven’t always shown our full qualities and our usual standards, but we showed that at home today.”

The victory lifted Arsenal to eighth in the table of this season’s rejigged format. The top eight clubs qualify automatically for the knockout stages, with those finishing in ninth to 24th contesting a two-legged play-off to reach the last 16.

“It’s too early (to look at the table),” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. “Everyone has to play a lot of different and difficult games, home and away, and we have to adapt to that.

“We still don’t know how many points we need. The only thing you can focus on is the performance, try to win our own games and we did it tonight.

“We all want to be at the very top to play less games and to have the capacity to have better draws. It’s going to be a long journey, but now the focus is on the Premier League.”

Arteta’s side return to action in the Premier League with a home match against winless Southampton on Saturday.

Mikel Merino is likely to feature against Saints after he made his debut as a second-half substitute against PSG following the shoulder injury he sustained in his very first training session with the Gunners.

“It was such an unlucky moment,” said Merino as he recalled the collision with defender Gabriel. “I haven’t seen an injury like this ever in my career.

“It was really tough to recover from mentally to be honest. To come in here, you want to have a nice few days to show everybody what you are capable of, to show why they have put faith in you and then the first thing that happens is you break your scapula.

“But I have made my debut, and I am buzzing. And winning trophies is the main thing here for everybody here. They are obsessed with that.”