Gary Neville has done a complete U-turn on his prediction that Arsenal will cannot win the Premier League title this season, although it’s more to do with the fact that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is ‘messing around’ with his team too much.
The former Manchester United and England defender has been backing reigning champions City to defend their title all season long and claimed that the Gunners will eventually fall away, with even United finishing above Mikel Arteta’s men in the end.
But after Arsenal lost at Everton last weekend, City then blew their chance to close the gap when they were beaten at Tottenham the following day. And that has led to Neville changing his tune.
“‘I think they played quite well [against Everton], I didn’t think it was a bad one – obviously it’s a bad result for them,” said Neville on the latest edition of The Overlap.
“Do you know something, we were at the City game on Sunda. And when the team came through I thought for the first time that Arsenal could win the league.
“And that’s not looking smart after the event because City had lost. But I just thought he [Guardiola] is messing around, he’s tinkering far too much.
“I don’t know why Kevin De Bruyne isn’t playing, I don’t know why Ilkay Gundogan is not playing, I don’t know why Ruben Dias is not back in the centre of that defence with Aymeric Laporte to make them solid.
“When I saw the team and I thought, from the point of view of my prediction – which is that City will catch Arsenal – I was less sure on Sunday than I’ve ever been.
“I was pretty certain two weeks ago, I was actually certain on Saturday afternoon, I thought, ‘right, City will do it proper tomorrow, this will be a proper champion’s performance, he [Pep] won’t mess around’ but if he carries on doing what he’s doing…”
City negativity is positive news for Arsenal
City also surprisingly loaned Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich in January and have since been charged with breaking financial fair play rules. And Neville feels the negativity around the club could end up becoming a big issue.
He added: “This is the stuff that we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks that makes me think my prediction could be wrong. And it’s not because of what Arsenal are doing, it’s actually what City are not doing.
“I’m not saying Arsenal haven’t had a great season. But you cannot, if Man City are purring, win the league off Manchester City in my opinion.”
Indeed, Neville still thinks City will come through and pip the Gunners, adding: “I still think City will win the league. But the fact we’re even talking about Arsenal winning the league is a miracle from where I thought they would be at the end of last season.”
The title run-in could take another twist this weekend when Arsenal host high-flying Brentford while City are at home to Aston Villa.
