"I think they’ll do it" - On-loan Arsenal star believes Gunners will win the Premier League this season

Arsenal loanee Kieran Tierney has backed the Gunners to end their 20-year wait for a Premier League title this season. The Scottish left-back spoke about the club's chances in the title race in an interview with The Athletic.

Arsenal have gone toe-to-toe with Manchester City in the title race for another season. The Gunners vehemently challenged, dominating the top of the league for 248 days, before succumbing in the final stretch of the 2022-23 campaign.

This season, the north Londoners have contested a three-horse title race against City and Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's men, however, are five points off the top and their chances seem bleak.

The Gunners are currently leading the table, a point ahead of second-placed Manchester City, but the reigning champions have a game in hand over their English counterparts.

Tierney had left the Emirates for Real Sociedad last summer in search of game time as Mikel Arteta opted to use Oleksandr Zinchenko as an inverted full-back. Speaking about his relationship with the Spanish boss after falling down the pecking order, Tierney said:

“There are no hard feelings or spite from me. I understand the decision of the manager to change me from No. 1 to No. 2. It’s football. It never happened in a personal way."

He added, backing Arsenal for Premier League glory this season:

"It was tactical. He thought it was best to get Arsenal results — and he was 100 per cent correct, when you look at it. They were close to winning the league last year, and this year I think they’ll do it."

Arsenal will next face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday (May 12).

"I just kind of got the feeling" - Kieran Tierney opens up about losing spot in Arsenal starting XI

During the aforementioned interview with The Athletic, Tierney opened up about his gradual transition out of the starting XI under Arteta last season.

Arsenal secured Zinchenko's services from Manchester City in the 2022 summer transfer window for a reported £30 million. Tierney, who made 22 Premier League starts during the 2021-22 season, registered just six league starts last term.

When asked whether Tierney was explicitly informed of Arteta's change of plans after Zinchenko's arrival, the Scottish defender said:

“Nah, I just kind of got the feeling. At the tail-end of the season before (2021-22), it was being implemented in training a bit. So when he came, I was thinking, ‘Will he play centre-mid(field) or will he be the left-back who goes inside?’

"In pre-season, I knew I had to get my head down and try to learn it. The first few months, it was about being inside more or higher up, it was just repetition of having the ball."

He added:

“In training, anyone can do it, but going into games you need to know exactly when to turn, when to play forward, when to bounce it back. It’s just trying it, making mistakes and learning for next time. For me, the best thing was watching Zinchenko do it.”