Pundit Gary Neville believes Arsenal can win the Premier League title this season, after previously having backed Manchester City to defend their title.
The Gunners sit atop the league table, five points above City with a game in hand. Both sides suffered defeats last weekend, with Arsenal losing 1-0 against Everton and Manchester City losing 1-0 against Tottenham Hotspur.
After the game, Neville claimed that the Gunners could win the Premier League title this season. He believes that City manager Pep Guardiola has made multiple changes to his lineup, which has led to a drop in their performances.
Speaking on The Overlap, Neville said:
“We were at the City game on Sunday and the team came through I thought ‘Hmm…’, for the first time I thought Arsenal could win the league. That’s not looking smart after the events when City lost, I thought, ‘He [Guardiola] is messing around, he is tinkering far too much.’
He added:
“I don’t know why [Kevin] De Bruyne isn’t playing, I don’t know why [Ilkay] Gundogan hasn’t played, I don’t know why [Ruben] Dias isn’t back in at centre-back with [Aymeric] Laporte to make them solid.”
Neville explained that after Arsenal’s loss against Everton, he expected Manchester City to reduce the gap by beating Tottenham.
The former Manchester United defender said:
“I saw the team and from my point of view, my prediction was City would catch Arsenal. I was less sure on Sunday afternoon than I had 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 champions performance. He will go with his best team, he won’t mess around’.”
He added:
“But if he carries on like that, carries on doing what he is doing… Sometimes great managers of that ilk, I know Sir Alex [Ferguson] had it a little bit as well, they just like to do things a little bit differently.”
Arsenal looking to get back to winning ways as they prepare to face Brentford
The Gunners have been in terrific form this season but have now lost two games in a row in all competitions. They lost 1-0 against Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup before losing against Everton.
Mikel Arteta’s side will next host Brentford on Saturday, February 11, and hope to get back to winning ways.
After their game against Brentford, they will face a stern test as they host Manchester City on February 15.