“City are dangerous,” Neville told Sky Sports. “They’ve got Haaland, and they’ve got Pep Guardiola. Somebody very special on the pitch, and somebody very special on the bench. That is the biggest threat to Arsenal, other than them getting injuries to, say, Declan Rice or a couple of other players.”
The former England defender was keen to stress that recent unconvincing performances should not be over-analysed. “Arsenal, I think, wouldn’t be too worried about the fact they’ve scraped through these last couple of games, that happens,” he said. “They weren’t great at Everton last night, but were they ever going to be amazing there?”
Neville then addressed the defining question of Arsenal’s season. “I think Arsenal are in a good position,” he added. “What will be really interesting is how they handle it when we get to March, April, May. That is where it’ll get really interesting. I feel like going into February or March, Arsenal will extend their lead, is my honest view. I think they’ll get back to five, six points again.
“I feel it's their year. They were always going to get closed down a little bit by City. They might be completely and utterly embarrassed if Pep Guardiola and Haaland and Co. could go and win the league again this year. City fans are getting confident. They’re thinking it's their year, they’re thinking ‘here we go, we’re close, they’re going to bottle it come March, April, May’, but I’m not sure this Arsenal team will bottle it this time.”
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