Rooney names ‘favourite’ to win the Premier League title after Man City close the gap on Arsenal

Erling Haaland opened the scoring with a deflected header, moments after his penalty was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk thought he had equalized but his header was controversially ruled out for offside due to Andy Robertson’s position.

The call was criticized by experts and City took advantage by adding a second through Nico Gonzalez just before half-time.

Jeremy Doku sealed the victory with a curling try on the hour mark, allowing City to climb into second place.

Guardiola’s men, now four points behind Arsenal, appear to pose the biggest threat to the Gunners’ title hopes.

Arsenal have been in excellent form this season, suffering just one defeat, but dropped points in a late 2-2 draw against Sunderland on Saturday.

Despite being four points ahead of City and well above Liverpool in the standings, Rooney is backing Arsenal to end their 22-year wait for the title.

Asked about the title race on his BBC podcast, Rooney said: ‘I think it’s going to be difficult for Liverpool now.

‘I know Arsenal dropped points this weekend, but if you look at their general form and the way Man City are putting together a great run, it will be difficult for Liverpool.

‘But it’s still early in the season, so you never know. I just think Arsenal and Man City are the two favorites now.

‘Arsenal will be a bit nervous about Man City coming, but I think it will be one of the two. I’ll probably still go to Arsenal. I have Arsenal as a slight favourite.’

Liverpool were crowned champions by a ten-point margin last season, but their current season has been far from smooth.

They have now lost five of their eleven league matches and are eight points behind early leaders Arsenal.

After the defeat to City, Arne Slot said there is no point in talking about title ambitions until Liverpool return to their usual standards.

“It was a very good start to the week and a very bad end to the week,” said Slot. “Today, apart from that decision, I don’t think this would ever be our game.

‘Overall they were the better team – we have to improve – but I didn’t need this game to know that. I saw a team trying to get back into the game, but it wasn’t enough today and that’s clear.

‘Last season we were eight points clear and it didn’t feel like it was over yet.

“We shouldn’t talk about the number one position, we should focus on our performance that needs to improve.”