GARY NEVILLE reckons Arsenal will limp over the line and win the Premier League title this season.
The Sky Sports pundit previously stated he believed Manchester City would recover to beat Mikel Arteta’s side to top spot.
He has now changed his stance, but thinks the Gunners WON’T keep up their flying pace from the first half of the season.
Arsenal achieved a remarkable total of 50 points from their first 19 games – but after their 1-0 loss to Everton on matchday 20, Neville thinks they’ll stumble over the finish line.
Explaining his reasoning on The Overlap, the 47-year-old said: “I believe that 85 points will win a team the Premier League this season.
“This is a traditional season where Arsenal won’t win the league easily, which it never is after not winning it for many years.”
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Explaining how he thinks the Gunners will win their first league title since the 2004 Invincibles, he added: “Arsenal will limp over the line in May and will come under pressure.
“But in terms of Arsenal having a big lead currently, we were thinking on Saturday afternoon about how quickly the points difference will change – the lead over Manchester City can change very quickly.
“It could happen multiple times between now and the end of the season, where Arsenal will lose, Manchester City will win and then the gap closes quite rapidly.
“If Manchester City overtake Arsenal with 5-10 games left to go, they’ll win it by 10 points, but if Arsenal are to win the league, they’ll win it in the penultimate or last game of the season.”
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On why the reigning champions won’t retain their crown this year, Neville pointed to strange decisions being made by boss Pep Guardiola.
He continued: “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.
“And that’s not looking smart after the event because City had lost, but I just thought he 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 won’t mess around’, but if he carries on doing what he’s doing…”
Man City currently trail Arsenal by five points, having played a game more than the Gunners.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
