Rafael van der Vaart: Arsenal will not win title this season, and may never with Mikel Arteta | OneFootball

Former Spurs star feels Gunners missed their best chance to beat Man City

Former Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart says he worries for Arsenal in the long-term.

Ahead of Sunday’s north London Derby, the Dutchman has dismissed the Gunners as the main title challengers to Manchester City this season.

And Van der Vaart says he does not think Arsenal can continue to mount sustained title challenges after narrowly missing out in the past two seasons.

Van de Vaart, who scored 28 goals across two seasons for Spurs between 2010 and 2012, told BetMGM: “Many think Arsenal will be the ones to serve it up to Manchester City, but I don’t agree. City and Liverpool look the two best sides to me.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have fallen short two seasons in a row

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“It’s so hard to keep going again and again, season after season, and I look at the Arsenal team in the long-term and worry about them. I can’t see Arsenal winning the Premier League this season.

“I was really impressed by Liverpool when they beat Manchester United. They looked so stable and everything looked very easy. City are definitely the favourites, but don’t write off Liverpool.”

Van der Vaart believes Tottenham will have the edge on Sunday due to the absences of midfield trio Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino.

If there’s ever a time for Spurs to show what they are about then it’s now

Rafael van der Vaart on north London derby

“I give Tottenham a real chance on Sunday”, Van der Vaart said. “It doesn’t matter what team you are - if you lose two or three really good players, particularly all in the same position, it makes things really hard. I really think Spurs can take advantage of it.

“If there’s ever a time for Spurs to show what they are about then it’s now, and it’s the sort of result Ange [Postecoglou] needs, to show that he’s a manager that can take Tottenham to the next level.”