Gary Neville has made it no secret of who he thinks will win the Premier League title this season.
Despite Arsenal leading the pack since mid-August, Neville has always stuck by his guns and backed Manchester City to clinch their fifth title in six seasons. The Gunners tasted defeat in the league for just the second time this season over the weekend, falling 1-0 to Everton and giving City the chance to close the gap at the top.
However, Pep Guardiola's side also lost 1-0, struggling against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday as Harry Kane's first-half finish secured all three points for the LIllywhites. That means Mikel Arteta and co. currently sit five points clear of their title rivals whilst also boasting a game in hand over Pep Guardiola's side, with Neville now beginning to soften his stance on who he thinks will lift the trophy come May.
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"Do you know something, we were at the City game on Sunday and when the team came through I thought for the first time that Arsenal could win the league", the former Manchester United defender told The Overlap. "And that’s not looking smart after the event because City had lost, but I just thought he [Guardiola] is messing around, he’s tinkering far too much.
"I don’t know why Kevin De Bruyne isn’t playing, I don’t know why Ilkay Gundogan is not playing, I don’t know why Ruben Dias is not back in the centre of that defence with Aymeric Laporte to make them solid. I saw the team and I thought, from the point of view of my prediction – which is that City will catch Arsenal – I was less sure on Sunday than I’ve 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 proper champion’s performance, he [Pep] won’t mess around' but if he carries on doing what he’s doing…"
He added: "This is the stuff that we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks that makes me think my prediction could be wrong. And it’s not because of what Arsenal are doing, it’s actually what City are not doing.
"I’m not saying Arsenal haven’t had a great season. But you cannot, if Man City are purring, win the league off Manchester City in my opinion."
He finished by saying: "I still think City will win the league, but the fact we’re even talking about Arsenal winning the league is a miracle from where I thought they would be at the end of last season."
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