Manchester United legend Gary Neville is hoping Arsenal will win the Premier League this season and has urged Mikel Arteta's side to believe they can "go and create history" when they face title rivals Manchester City in a blockbuster game next week.
Arsenal currently sit four points above City, but Pep Guardiola's side do have a game in hand and the Gunners have dropped points in their last two matches while the defending champions have won their last ten games in all competitions. And after Arsenal slipped to a second consecutive 2-2 draw against strugglers West Ham, Neville revealed his main concern about their title bid.
"What worried me a little bit was that Arsenal looked the leggy team in the last half an hour and West Ham were the team that had played on Thursday night and looked like the team with energy," he told Sky Sports. "That was the only thing that bugged me a little bit if I was Arsenal.
"And I've said it before, I've been in those title run-ins when you have young players and you just start to get a little big sluggish, not moving as freely, not moving as quickly. So [they need] loads of recovery, loads of rest, get off your PlayStations, don't go out for a meal.
"Relax, watch films, sit in, do your preparation, have your massages, ice baths. Do everything perfectly and win on Friday night. I'm sure they'll be good enough to beat Southampton on Friday night, but that's a really important match for them."
Should Arsenal beat bottom of the table Southampton on Friday, they will move seven points clear of City heading into their all-important clash. And Neville has urged Arsenal's young stars to enter that game full of confidence and believing they can "go and rip City to shreds", sharing a lesson he learned from legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
He added: "Sir Alex Ferguson always said 'if you had to win one game to win the league would you take it?' And the answer was always yes. [If] Arsenal win at the Etihad they'll win the league.
"If you were handed this opportunity at the start of the season, that you have to go and win away at a ground to win the league you'd snap someone's hand off to have that opportunity every single year. So this is something to feel excited about, this is not something to feel pressure about.
"City will love this game because they've been there before. Guardiola will love this game, but Arteta's got to love this game and his player's have got to love this game. Martinelli, Saka, Odegaard, Jesus can go and rip City to shreds a week on Wednesday.
"They can, they can go and score three at the Etihad and that's how they've got to think. They've got to think that they're going to go and create history. Think of Michael Thomas, t hink of Ljungberg at Old Trafford, think of all those times where their predecessors have done it before.
"As much as I think that City will win the league, and I've said it all along, I'm now giving advice to Arsenal about what a run-in is, what a run-in feels like and what you have to think like. It's tough, it's really tough and I do hope they go and do it because it'll be sensational for the league to see a team go from fifth [last season] to first. That's what we want the Premier League to be like."
