William Gallas believes that only one team has the ability to rival Arsenal in this season’s Premier League title race.

Arsenal are now five points clear at the top of the league table following their hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Hull City on Saturday.

But it was another bad weekend for Manchester City as their third successive league defeat saw Enzo Maresca’s side slip to third.

Brighton are now second in the table as Fabian Hurzeler’s side continued their superb start to the season with a 2-0 win over Brentford.

The Seagulls have already beaten both Arsenal and City in the league this season, with no team scoring more goals and only Arsenal conceding fewer after ten games.

But despite that impressive start from Brighton, Gallas still expects City to come on strong and provide the only real test for Arsenal in the title race this campaign.

‘It will be very interesting to see if they can maintain that performance until the end of the season, but we know the second part is always the most difficult time for any club,’ Gallas told Tribal Football.

‘Right now, it looks like only those two teams, Arsenal and Manchester City, are really going to fight for the title.’

Gallas was also keen to rave about Arsenal’s superb defensive record once again this season, adding: ‘They have conceded just five goals, and that is going to be the question from everyone: how many goals will they concede this season?

Ask Metro

‘Last season, I know everybody was talking about them conceding maybe less than 15 goals, but in the second part of the season, it was difficult for Arsenal. Right now, they look really, really strong.

‘We talk about the defenders and how good they are, but I think we have to speak about the whole team, because the first players who have to defend are the striker and the wingers.

‘They are doing their job properly, and that allows the defenders to defend without having too much pressure on their shoulders.’

Arsenal will look to make it six wins in a row in the league after the international break when they travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United.