LONDON -- Arsene Wenger says Manchester City can match his "Invincibles" by going the entire Premier League season unbeaten, but added that Arsenal did it without the financial resources that are at Pep Guardiola's disposal.
Manchester City are off to the best Premier League start ever with 49 points from 17 games -- 10 more than Arsenal had at the same point in their 2003-04 unbeaten campaign.
And Wenger acknowledged that Guardiola's side could finally match his team's accomplishment.
"Why not? It can happen, but there is still a long way to go," Wenger told a news conference on Friday. "At the moment I think everything goes for them inside the games, but maybe as well they have the quality to turn it in their favour."
And the Frenchman couldn't help but point out that Man City have assembled a very expensive squad under their Abu Dhabi-based ownership, spending money that he never had available.
"Look, we had no petrol but ideas, they have petrol and ideas, so that makes it more efficient," Wenger said, when comparing this City side to his "Invincibles."
Asked what he meant by "petrol," the Arsenal boss added: "They have resources... Money and quality is what I wanted to say, and in their management and players they have everything that is needed to be successful. It's still not easy, they still have to respect that achievement."
Arsenal are 19 points behind Man City, languishing in seventh place after three league games without a win. That is despite Arsenal actually having created more chances overall than City in the league -- but scoring just 30 goals to City's 52.
"At the moment there is a difference between points we get and the domination we have in the game," Wenger said. "I feel as well it's in cycles... We want to continue what we do well and improve the finishing, be a bit sharper in our finishing. Overall, that's what we want to be inspired with. When you speak about the problem, it has to look natural to finish. At the moment, maybe we are in a position where we want to force the situation a little bit too much."