The Prmeier League title race is heating up with Arsenal and Manchester City still battling out among themselves. Recently former Manchester United defender Gary Neville admitted that his decision to undermine Arsenal in his previous prediction was not right.
However the former England international still believes that Manchester City will defend the crown. He said this right after City thrashed Liverpool 4-1 at the Eithad. However even Arsenal defeated Leeds United 4-1 but Neville feels that the Gunners will drop points in the coming months.
Neville admitted that he thought Arsenal would have dropped points by now and expected City to dominate the league. But that has not happened and now he believes that the title race hangs in the balance but he still feels City will edge it past the North London outfit.
“I still think City are going to do it because they’ve got that bit more experience. It’s 50/50. It wasn’t [50/50], my mind was certain that City were going to win the league six to eight weeks ago. I thought, by now, Arsenal would have dropped lots of points and wouldn’t be where they are now,” Neville stated.
Neville feels that a lot will depend on Arsenal’s game at Anfield as he reminisces his former manager Alex Ferguson saying that winning at Anfield gives any team a big edge in the the race for the league title.
“I think City might just still do it. I’m not going to put everything on the Liverpool game. Our manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] used to say to us, ‘if you win at Anfield, you win the league’,” he added.
Arsenal have a eight point lead over Manchester City. But the Citizens have a game in hand and will play their title rivals on April 27. Overall, Pep Guardiola’s men still have a good chance to defend the crown. But for now, Arsenal will be focused on their trip to Anfield on April 9. It will be a crucial clash for the Gunners as going to Anfield and getting a positive result will boost their morale for the upcoming games. Overall they recently defeated Leeds United 4-1 as Gabriel Jesus scored a brace while Ben White and Granit Xhaka also chipped in with a goal each.
On the other hand, City will have the added pressure of facing Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. The first leg of the quarterfinals is scheduled to be played on April 12 at the Etihad Stadium.
