Manchester City’s late winner at Wolves was an ominous moment for their title rivals, says Gary Neville, who believes there is a feeling of inevitability around Pep Guardiola’s side and their Premier League challenge once again.
The defending champions looked like they would drop two points at Molineux but a controversial injury-time header from John Stones grabbed them all three points and means they sit one point behind early pacesetters Liverpool, who beat Chelsea at Anfield later on Super Sunday.
“It’s moments like that, even this early, which make you think [they’re going to do it again]. It’s two important goals from Stones in the last month,” said Neville on The Gary Neville Podcast, referring to the defender’s last-gasp equaliser against Arsenal.
“I remember the goal they scored late on at Newcastle last season through Oscar Bobb and watching that and thinking, ‘here we go again, they’re going to win the league’.
“They will be ecstatic [with getting the win at Wolves] – and they were, we saw them celebrating with the fans. It’s a big win.
“What City have done today is get over the line, which is what City do.”
Neville paid credit to both Liverpool and Chelsea after covering the Reds’ win 2-1 at Anfield but he believes it is Arsenal who have the best hope of ending City’s streak of Premier League titles.
“Would these two teams [at Anfield] win the title? I don’t think so,” said Neville. “What Liverpool are doing defensively at the moment is interesting. I’d like to assess it at Christmas. I still think they’re short.
“Chelsea are short, they’re not going to win the league. I think Arsenal are the only team that can take on City. But you can’t afford to fall too many points behind.”
Arsenal disappointing at Bournemouth
The deficit for Arsenal is now three points on City after Mikel Arteta’s team were beaten at Bournemouth on Saturday.
William Saliba was sent off in the first half of that game. It’s the third time this season Arsenal have had a player sent off in the Premier League, with the Gunners also dropping points against City and Brighton when down to 10 men.
Neville, though, says there can be no excuses for Arsenal if they want to be title challengers. They still have to go for victories in those situations.
“You can lose any match in football but the most disappointing thing is they’ve not gone and won the game against Brighton or Bournemouth. With the quality they have they should still be able to win those matches,” said Neville.
“Point one – don’t get players sent off as much. That sounds easy but you’ve got to deal with it and stop it.
“And if you do go down to 10 men, you’ve got to go and win.
“On a general note of Arsenal, it’s still very early in the season, early enough for them to recover and be really dangerous and win the league. But I was disappointed with them [at Bournemouth] and I think they should be disappointed with themselves.”
Gunners cannot make excuses anymore
Neville says Arsenal cannot make excuses about missing injured players – and the same applies for when Saliba is suspended for the big game against Liverpool next Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
“No Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard or Jurrien Timber against Bournemouth? I get that but we’re talking about playing Bournemouth, who are a good side, but they have a squad of 20 to deal with Champions League football and a couple of injuries. We know players will be missing at certain points in the season,” said Neville.
“Saka always plays. If you were going to say you miss him once, twice, three times in a season then Bournemouth away would be one of the games you may say, ‘okay that’s fine we have a squad to deal with it’.
“Arsenal without Saliba against Liverpool – they had the excuse a couple of seasons ago [when he was out injured in the run-in] and that was accepted, he was a big loss. But they’ve added players to the squad to be able to deal with that now.
“You can’t be one player away, having a one-match ban, and the level go from here [high] to here [low]. You have to remain consistent and reliable if you get an injury.
“We’ve seen City without Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne and they still get by. I know they’re a machine but I have a lot of confidence in Arsenal and love for the way they’ve developed.
“Next week we can’t talk about ‘so-and-so isn’t playing’. There’s been a lot of money, a lot of improvement. Now’s the time to go and show it.
“They’re still in with a big chance. It’s very early in the season. Next Sunday is a big test for Liverpool and a big question for Arsenal without Saliba.”
Watch Arsenal vs Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.