Erling Haaland's second-half winner on Sunday afternoon leaves City just 3 points behind the Gunners, with a game in hand against Burnley on Wednesday night.
A seventh championship in 10 seasons is within Pep Guardiola’s grasp heading into this week’s fixture, putting pressure on an Arsenal side who have looked clueless in recent weeks.
Speaking after the game, Deeney was keen to point out that a lot of the Arsenal side looked shapeless and not up to the fight against City.
"We talk about how great Manchester City are, but you have to say Noni Madueke didn’t turn up, Martin Zubimendi didn’t turn up, Martin Odegaard didn’t turn up, Cristhian Mosquera didn’t turn up, Piero Hincapie didn’t turn up.
"And arguably, he’s a friend of mine, Declan Rice didn’t turn up. When Arsenal have this many players not turning up and putting in a level of performance in that you would expect, you have to question it, you have to question where they were."
On Arsenal's upcoming games he added: "Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace : you would normally say job done, you know they’re going to win. But West Ham have a bit of form, and they’re fighting for their lives. Fulham and Marco Silva have had this weird season where they’ve not really done anything."
The last time Arsenal lost back-to-back league games was December 2023 and after losses to City and Bournemouth, plus a 0-0 against Sporting in between, the North London side certainly do not look like title winners at the moment.