RIO FERDINAND believes that Arsenal are still the favourites to win the Premier League despite their loss to Everton.
The Gunners suffered a shock defeat to the relegation candidates at Goodison Park after James Tarkowski’s winning header.
The goal gave new manager Sean Dyche the perfect start to his tenure as Toffees boss, but put a dent in Arsenal’s title bid.
Their lead of five points could now be slashed to just two should Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow.
But despite this potential momentum swing, Ferdinand is still backing Arsenal to go all the way.
He told BT Sports: “Arsenal, we have been sitting here all of us believing they can win this league and I put them as favourites and I still put them as favourites and edge them slightly.
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“It’s a real psychological test for them now though, how do they handle this bump in the road?
“It’s a big learning curve for them.
“I think they’ve come up against that type of low block quite often but the aggression I saw today, teams haven’t been able to get close enough to Arsenal to play like this.
“They play so slick and play through teams.
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“These are the moments and times where you want your star man and game changer to turn up and produce and that can sometimes override the system.”
Mikel Arteta’s side will have the chance to recover from the defeat when they host Brentford at the Emirates Stadium next Saturday.
Ferdinand added: “It’s important how you react. When we played, you don’t lose two games on the spin.
“You’ve got to find results by any means you can’t always play perfect football.
“There will be big long spells where it’s not going your way. Can you come out of those moments?
“It’s going to be the experienced players, even like Jorginho who has just come in, to be with the youngsters when you’ve dropped points and let them know it’s not the end of the world.
“You have to find positives in this performance to maintain that momentum and confidence.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
