Rio Ferdinand says City’s clash with Newcastle could ‘alter’ Arsenal players’ minds

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has said that Arsenal players will be more than aware of what goes on at the Etihad ahead of their clash with Bournemouth.

Arsenal lead Manchester City by five points as the season enters its crucial stage, although the reigning champions can reduce that figure to just two, if only for a few hours, if they beat Newcastle.

Pointing to his own experiences of title races, Ferdinand said players don’t block out outside noise from rivals’ results and said the proximity of televisions and mobile phones makes it virtually impossible to do so.

“I have no doubt that there will be TVs everywhere and the players will have their phones with the game on,” he told BT Sport.

‘It will be on your mind. You can’t escape from it. It can mess with your mind going into a game.

Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Manchester City start before Arsenal can shock the league leaders.

Arsenal take on Bournemouth later on Saturday as they look to maintain the lead over City.

City take on Newcastle in the opening game on Saturday as they look to close the gap to two points, albeit potentially temporarily.

‘I played matches when I came out for warm-ups on the team we were fighting against, I was behind, I came back from warm-ups and they had turned it around and they were winning.

‘We were like oh and having to face the players. We go out and draw the game, it can affect you if you don’t have players with the right experience to motivate you for the game based on the result.’

Ferdinand was part of six title-winning teams at United, though he was also involved in two harrowing final days that saw the title slip away, in 2009-10 and most notably 2011-12.

Although they seemed to defeat Arsenal a few weeks ago by beating them at the Emirates, City once again find themselves trailing Mikel Arteta’s side in the title quest.

Arsenal’s win over Everton earlier in the week ensured they capitalized on their play to move five points clear of Pep Guardiola’s team.

Guardiola himself has predicted many twists and turns for the next dozen games, with the Catalan facing his friend and former assistant Arteta.

“In the Premier League we are close and the last 10 games will define the season,” he said.

Pep Guardiola has said that the crucial stage of the season is about to begin as he expects twists and turns.

“I have a feeling that in the Premier League a lot will happen: teams will lose points. But we can’t drop too many if we want to be there.

‘After Nottingham Forest we weren’t consistent, now we are because we won one game.

‘The way we are playing is good, the results could be better. Sometimes it happens in football. The results aren’t exceptional, but that’s okay.

‘I have no complaints about how we are playing and how we are fighting. The mood in the dressing room is exceptional and the guys are doing their best, that’s enough for me.”