Gary Neville on Arsenal's title hopes: "I do think Arsenal are the only challengers for City, I never bought into the Liverpool thing before today, it could happen just because of purely Klopp, if they strengthen that midfield in January, but I feel Arsenal are a better team"
Tuesday 19 December 2023 06:29, UK
Gary Neville says Arsenal are the only team who will challenge Man City in the Premier League title race this season following Liverpool's draw with Man Utd at Anfield.
The Gunners returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Brighton at the Emirates Stadium, earning high praise from opposition manager Roberto De Zerbi who labelled them the 'best team' in the top flight.
They kept their nerve as two of their title rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, were both held to disappointing home draws by Crystal Palace and Manchester United respectively - the latter dropping points at Anfield for the first time this season.
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Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville defended City's drop in form - having now won only one of their last six Premier League games - given their incredible consistency in recent years, but said Arsenal's squad put them in a better position to wrestle their crown come the end of the season.
"This is un-City like, it's un-Pep like," he said. "It's not what we see from his teams. They've dropped points in five out of the last six games; they've had some real difficult moments, dropped points you'd never expect them to drop.
"People aren't whacking them, we're not sitting here saying they're rubbish. People have sat here and said Man Utd have been shambolic over the last few weeks, but City are just below their level.
"They have built up so much credit in the bank over the last few years, that they are allowed that few months off where they do drop a few points off - and they are still only a few points off the top of the league.
"They are still where you would want to be in the pack, and if they are still there in February, they will be dangerous. But the reason I've said Arsenal are going to win the league is because I'm banking on those little bits of injuries you get post-treble, that post-treble complacency and drop-off, and I'm banking on Arsenal keeping their main players fit.
"I do think Arsenal are the only challengers for City, I never bought into the Liverpool thing before [Sunday], it could happen just because of purely Klopp, if they strengthen that midfield in January, but I feel Arsenal are a better team."
Arsenal's win, coupled with Liverpool's point against Man Utd, denied Aston Villa top spot following their own celebrated victory at Brentford, where they interrupted their hosts' solid home form with a 2-1 victory through Ollie Watkins' late header.
Speaking on Super Sunday, former Man Utd captain Roy Keane praised Unai Emery's side but said their squad depth would prove their undoing in the second half of the season, and agreed with Neville that Arsenal were best-placed to take advantage of City's woes.
"You don't win anything for being top at Christmas, you want to be top at the end of the season," he said. "But Villa are doing great - they're flying, in top form, scrapping results and we saw again that set-pieces are huge for them. You just think they'd be short in terms of their squad.
"I find it hard to write off Man City, but there's certainly been a dip. You look at the result at the weekend and you wouldn't think they would be giving up a 2-0 lead. I think Pep's mentioned fatigue, and now they are away for a couple of weeks. My hopes for Man City are that if (Kevin) De Bruyne gets back and hits the ground running, he will be a huge difference. But if it takes him a while to get up to speed, and if they do slip up, then for me it's Arsenal.
"Declan Rice has added a bit of physicality, and there's always the injury worries but you could say that for lots of teams. I would be pointing towards them.
"All the other teams must be getting belief now. Even last year, we were saying Arsenal would be up against it, saying City are still the best out there. Liverpool, Villa, Arsenal - they must be looking and thinking this is as good a chance as they have had for a number of years."
The gap from first to third in the Premier League has exceeded 15 points in five of the six years since Pep Guardiola first led his side to a Premier League trophy, with Man Utd's 14-point deficit last season as close as any top three have ended in that time.
Jamie Carragher told the Super Sunday panel City's recent run of form, should it continue, would help to reinvigorate the title race with the potential to keep Aston Villa and Liverpool involved for longer.
"I hope it is a drop-off in points needed to win the league this season - it keeps a lot more teams involved," he said. "That's been the problem over the last few years, City have been so dominant and no one can keep up.
"You are starting a season and those seasons where City and Liverpool were going for the league, if you lost a game in October you felt like the title was gone.
"It felt like 100 points was the target, with what City were getting. I don't think it is quite there now, it could be mid-80s and that could bring Liverpool into it, I think Arsenal will definitely be there and maybe Aston Villa too."
