Arsenal moved level with north London rivals Tottenham at the top of the table after the win and Neville now believes that they can go one step further than last season and lift the title in May. The Gunners are two points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side and along with Spurs, are the only two unbeaten teams in the division so far.
Arsenal made a statement without star man Saka, who was absent after an injury he picked up in the Champions League clash with Lens. Arteta confirmed that he would also miss international duty with England, as the focus will be on returning to fitness after the break for the trip to Chelsea.
Despite Saka’s clear importance to Arsenal, when asked if Arsenal need to keep him and Martinelli fit in order to compete for the league, Neville replied: “Yeah they do, but more important than that are the two centre-backs (Gabriel and William Saliba) and (Declan) Rice. The two centre-backs and Rice. They will not win the league if they don’t have the two centre-backs and Rice.
“I was worried about the goalkeeper (David Raya) in the first half today, that was close. He has averted a little bit of a crisis there. If he concedes a goal in the first half with one of those moments of anxiety… you have seen it go like that (motions downwards).
“Hopefully tonight he has gone home and reflected, he came out a lot better in the second half. Mikel Arteta, I don’t know what he said to them at half-time because they all came out better, but he had to get through that game – and he did. Because that could have been a real problem.”
Arteta did experiment in the first few weeks of the season with Gabriel out of the team, but he has recently returned to continue his impressive partnership with Saliba. The defensive duo kept Erling Haaland quiet and are the bedrock of a team that Neville has predicted to oust City and become champions.
“The reason I predicted them (Arsenal) to win the title is because they got close last year and I think they will be close again,” Neville added.
“I just thought there would be a treble hangover for City. What is the City’s cause this year? They have achieved Utopia and can’t do anything more than win the treble.”
