"I do feel": Gary Neville makes Arsenal title claim after Man City beat Chelsea

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has made his Premier League title prediction on Arsenal ahead of this weekend’s showdown against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

The Gunners suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Man City capitalised on the result with a 3-0 victory over Chelsea on the road.

As a result, Arsenal are only six points ahead of the Cityzens at the top of the table. Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand against Crystal Palace at home, yet to be rescheduled.

Man City can get their title destiny in their own hands by beating Arsenal on Sunday, and the Gunners will be determined to avoid that prospect with a victory or draw at the Etihad.

Ahead of the clash, Neville has said that Arsenal still have the upper hand in the title pursuit and believes they will crawl over the line, as Man City are not perfect despite their recent run of form.

He told Sky Sports: “I do feel now is the time for Arsenal. I’m not going to go and say it’s now or never, but it does feel a bit like that, because if you’ve had five years of trying to climb that mountain, and you’ve just failed at that final hurdle each time, there has to be a moment where you get over the line.

“Arsenal will crawl over the line. I don’t think they’ll get over the line easily; they might even lose next week, but I do think they’ve probably got a little bit of a cushion.

“Manchester City aren’t perfect, and Arsenal will just get there, but they’re in a lot more trouble than they were at 12.30pm on Saturday, when they were just about to kick off against Bournemouth.”

The Gunners had a nervous outing against the Cherries last weekend. A defensive mishap contributed to the opening goal before a penalty, which allowed Viktor Gyokeres to equalise.

In the quest to find the winner, Arsenal were left vulnerable at the back and paid the price. Alex Scott netted a late winner for the Cherries, who won for the second-straight season at the Emirates.

Arsenal’s immediate focus will be on the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Sporting CP on Wednesday. They have a slender 1-0 lead and can’t afford to take things for granted.

The players must turn up with the right attitude to progress to the Champions League semi-final. If that were to happen, Arsenal should go into the Man City game with some confidence under their belt.

The Gunners are not out of the title race with a defeat to the Cityzens this weekend, but that could make things more tricky. The league could then be decided on goal difference if both teams win thereon.

Hopefully, there is some good news on the injury front before the game. Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori are currently sidelined with minor niggling injuries.

Arsenal need the quartet in the starting XI for the potential title decider at the Etihad. We should get a further update on their fitness during the pre-match press conference for the Sporting CP game.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com

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