Paul Scholes and Gary Neville have had their say on Sunday's huge Premier League title showdown between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Etihad
Gary Neville points to Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes has left Gary Neville stunned over his Man City vs Arsenal prediction (Image: Stick to Football)
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Paul Scholes has left Gary Neville stunned after predicting a comfortable Manchester City win over Arsenal on Sunday. Premier League leaders Arsenal sit six points clear of second-placed City going into this weekend's crunch fixture at the Etihad Stadium.
But it is Pep Guardiola's side who have all the momentum, having won their last three games across all competitions – including a 2-0 victory over the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final. City also have a game in hand over Mikel Arteta's team, who have won just one of their last five matches.
The Gunners slipped to a disastrous 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth last weekend to hand further momentum to their title rivals. There are now genuine fears in north London that Arteta's men will let their title advantage slip as they chase a first league crown in 22 years and major trophy in six years.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice issued a defiant message after Wednesday night's 0-0 draw against Sporting sealed their place in the Champions League semi-finals. But many see City as favourites to claim all three points in Manchester to put the league title in their hands.
And Manchester United legends Neville and Scholes have had their say on Sunday's game while appearing on The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast.
Neville initially predicted the game to finish a score draw this Sunday. He said: “I think it’s going to be a draw on Sunday and I think it’ll be 1-1.”
Paul Scholes disagreed, backing City to beat the Gunners by two or three goals. The former midfielder said: “I think City will win easily.
Mikel Arteta shouts instructions
Arsenal face a decisive weekend in their Premier League title bid (Image: Getty Images)
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“Just comfortable. Unless they get someone sent off or something stupid. I think they’ll win comfortably. Two or three [nil].”
A stunned Neville was lost for words, as he simply said: “Wow… wow!”
Arteta wants his team to use their qualification for the Champions League semi-finals as a boost for the City game. "One hundred per cent," the Spaniard said when asked if the result could serve as a springboard for their meeting with Guardiola's men.
"This is a massive push to win the semifinal of the Champions League. It's extremely tough and we know what we've done. We deserve it, fully deserve it as well, and we're going to enjoy it because we deserve it.
"My message [to the players] was gratitude to them. I know the effort and the commitment that they have put in.
"There's a lot of work behind it. We've done something that has never been done in the history of our club in 140 years, so that tells you the difficulty of that, and we had to do it in a very special way, missing a lot of important players."