Rio Ferdinand names his title favourites after Arsenal suffer shock loss

After suffering a shocking loss to Everton, Rio Ferdinand feels Arsenal now faces the greatest test of their Premier League title aspirations.

Goodison Park was at its rowdy best and helped to knock the league leaders off their game since Sean Dyche’s hiring had given the stadium new life.

Amadou Onana and Alex Iwobi, among others, continually pressured Arsenal despite their inability to generate opportunities and put Jordan Pickford to the test.

While all was going on, Everton was always a threat, especially from set pieces, so it was not surprising when Dwight McNeil and James Tarkowski, two of Dyche’s former Burnley teammates, combined to score the game-winning goal around the hour mark.

The victory and three points that helped the Toffees escape the relegation zone were well worth it in the end, despite a few nerve-racking moments late on.

Even though Manchester City will have played one more game than Arsenal, Ferdinand believes they still have an advantage in the fight for the title. Arsenal, however, could see their lead at the top cut to two points if they lose against Tottenham on Sunday.

He told BT Sport: ‘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.

‘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.

‘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 entertain Brentford at the Emirates Stadium next Saturday and Ferdinand believes it’s imperative Arsenal find a way to grind out three points or risk surrendering the momentum they created during the first half of the season.

He 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.’