Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney believes Manchester City have the mental edge over Arsenal as the Premier League race intensifies. City are currently six points behind table-toppers Arsenal in the Premier League but Pep Guardiola’s team have one more game in hand to reduce the six-point deficit.

The Gunners lost points as they suffered a 2-1 loss against Bournemouth while playing at home on Saturday whereas the Sky Blues registered a 3-0 win against Chelsea on Sunday.

“I think City will have the edge on that, just purely the manager and players they’ve got. They will be able to stay a little calmer than the Arsenal players,” Rooney said on the BBC’s The Wayne Rooney Show.

“They will be worried because when you go on a run and lose a few games, you start thinking ‘where’s the next goal, the next win going to come from?’ That negative mindset really has an impact on your performance.”

City will host Arsenal this Sunday and the upcoming clash will be crucial in determining the Premier League champions. Rooney said Mikel Arteta’s team will be happy with a point or they might try to play dirty.

“Whether the fans like that type of football or not, they have to do anything to stop City winning. They need to be resilient enough to stop City from scoring,” he said.

Former England skipper added Tottenham Hotspur players would be worried about their future as the club battles relegation. The Lilywhites are currently in 18th place in the points table.

“It will be a disaster for them if they do go [down]. I think that’s where some of those players probably are looking at it thinking if they go down they can move on and go to a different club,” Rooney said.

“If they don’t get back in the Premier League in the first year, that will be an absolute nightmare for them.”