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Pep Guardiola kept the pressure on Arsenal with a win at Anfield (Picture: Getty Images)
Gary Neville feels Arsenal should be very wary of the threat Manchester City pose in the Premier League title race, for three key reasons.
The Gunners are in a commanding position at the top of the table, six points clear of City, who appear to be their only remaining challengers.
Pep Guardiola’s side kept themselves in the race thanks to a dramatic late turnaround at Anfield on Sunday night.
Liverpool led thanks to a stunning free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai but a late equaliser from Bernardo Silva and even later winner from Erling Haaland earned three valuable points for the visitors with a 2-1 victory.
There are 13 games to play and Arsenal still have to go to the Etihad, so the title race is still alive and Neville says there are three pillars of Manchester City that will be concerning the league-leaders.
The Manchester United legend points to the manager, goalkeeper and centre-forward as character and performers who could lead Manchester City to an unlikely title triumph.
‘If City are going to win the league they’re going to need something really special, because they’re not the best team. For once they’re note the best team,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. ‘Arsenal are the best team, they’ve got the best squad, they’re playing the best football, they’re the most consistent and most solid.
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Erling Haland and Gianluigi Donnarumma were crucial to Manchester City’s win at Liverpool (Picture: Getty Images)
‘But, what you can never do is write off Pep Guardiola and the likes of Donnarumma and Haaland.
‘Because they’ve just got it in them, they’ve got it in them to produce something. They know their way around the block, they know what it’s going to be like in the last five or six matches.
‘The one thing that Arsenal have got to be careful of is those three big characters. I know City have got more than that, they’ve got [Ruben] Dias and Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden and Rodri, they’ve got amazing players. But the goalkeeper, the centre-forward and the manager are the three people who can win Manchester City this league.
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Manchester City won at Anfield for just the second time under Guardiola (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Guardiola’s presence. His ability to get something and win and just continually win. He’s a winning machine. And then those two are just massive physical presences and dominant and world class in their positions.’
Manchester City have been inconsistent, with the victory at Anfield just their second in their last six Premier League outings, but Neville feels the memorable win should spark something in them for a late charge.
‘It’s going to be an interesting last 13 matches,’ he said. ‘We’re not into the home straight yet but City were in danger of not being involved in the home straight if they carried on as they were. But that must relight their fire, they can’t let go of that.’
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Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta celebrates on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium in London on February 7, 2026. Arsenal won the game 3-0. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images)
Both teams are in action in midweek, with Manchester City facing a quick turnaround to host Fulham on Wednesday, while Arsenal go to Brentford on Thursday.
Jamie Carragher feels there is a great chance for City to land a blow on Arsenal away from the Premier League, when they meet in the Carabao Cup final on March 22, seeing this as an opportunity to take a mental edge on their rivals in the home stretch of the title race.
‘I think the Carabao Cup final is a huge moment for both teams,’ the Liverpool legend told Sky Sports. ‘I think if Manchester City won that, then a lot of the talk would be that Arsenal can’t get over the line and get another trophy.
‘If City could cut that [the lead] by a point or two by then and could beat them in the Carabao Cup final, psychologically that would be huge for Manchester City in that run in.’
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