Stan Collymore believes Arsenal will struggle to get anywhere close to Manchester City by Christmas, let alone at the end of the season.

Arsenal have put a couple of good results together in important games since the loss against Manchester City, putting themselves back in the race for a top-four spot.

However, Collymore thinks that should be the summit of the team’s ambition this season, as he’s ruled out Arsenal and Liverpool of competing at the very top of the table, reports Daily Star.

“Liverpool aren’t competing, Arsenal aren’t competing not properly, anyway. Nominally they are, in beating teams by twos, threes and fours here and there, but too often they follow up good results with a defeat or a draw against a side they ought to be beating,” he wrote in the Mirror.

“Neither of those two clubs has done anything in the first third of the season to suggest that they will still be on City’s coat-tails by Christmas, let alone by May.”

The Gunners have had a couple of losses they definitely should’ve avoided, to Stoke City and Watford, so you can understand where Collymore is coming from. Other than that, however, results have been generally what you’d expect.

Liverpool and City couldn’t exactly be called sides Arsenal ought to be beating, and the team did manage to get results against Tottenham and Chelsea.

Unfortunately, City have been too strong this season that I can’t see anyone competing with them. If Manchester United were the top team, Arsenal would only have four points to catch up ahead of their meeting this weekend. City are 12 points clear of the Gunners.

Arsenal still wouldn’t be top of the table had they beaten the lower league sides in the table. City need to show some weakness before we can start talking about whether other teams are good enough to catch them.