MNC: Are Arsenal 'bottling' it & will Spurs survive?

Football Daily

BBC

Sports, Soccer

4.3 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Steve Crossman hosts this week's Monday Night Club alongside Chris Sutton, Rory Smith and Nedum Onuoha.

With a game in hand and six points to make up, can Manchester City catch Arsenal? The team discuss the role that mentality plays in a title race, how fan nervousness might be affecting Arsenal on the pitch, and what Arteta's side seem to be lacking from open-play. Is it fair to say Arsenal are 'bottling' it? On the other hand, a free-flowing Manchester City are relishing the chase, and with Arsenal visiting the Etihad this Sunday, could that result prove to be a decider?

Then, the panel react to Spurs losing their first match under new head coach, Roberto De Zerbi. With Tottenham now in the relegation zone for the first time since 2015, and two points from safety, can "big brother" De Zerbi save the club?

Timecodes: 01:12 Is it fair to say that Arsenal are 'bottling' it? 12:13 Do Arsenal really have a style-of-play problem? 20:24 Arsenal a "masterpiece of coaching", but is it time now for psychology? 28:17 Are the fans affecting the players, & should they have booed the team off? 37:07 A first loss for "big brother" De Zerbi as Spurs manager; can he save them?

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
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0:39.3	This is the Monday Nightclub with Steve Crosman on the Football Daily podcast.
0:45.1	Hello, welcome to the Monday Nightclub on the Football Daily podcast.
0:49.3	Loads to get into.
0:50.6	We'll do a big breakdown of the title race.
0:52.6	Manchester City going six points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, with Arsenal visiting the Etihad live on 5 Live on Sunday. We'll talk Spurs. Roberto Deserby losing his first match in charge. They are in the relegation zone and they're two points from safety. All of that on the way in the company of Chris Sutton, Rory Smith and Neda Manua. Hello, everybody. Hiya. Hiya. You're all right. Unsurprisingly, we will start with the Premier League title race. So Arsenal's lead at the top is six now. They're lost at home to Bournemouth, Manchester City, thumped Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. So six points, but City obviously have a game in hand,
1:27.8	and they face each other at the Etty had live on 5 live at 4.30 on Sunday.
1:33.1	We thought we would talk a bit, Rory, about the notion of bottling it.
	...

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