Neville: 'Arsenal will win if they beat Liverpool'
"If Arsenal win at Anfield, I am sure Arsenal will win the title, because that result will give them a lot of confidence. And if Arsenal lose at Anfield, the title race promises to be very intense," Neville said. on Sky Sports on April 6.
The former England defender said these are experiences from playing under Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd. Neville said: "Ferguson used to say that, if you are a guest of Liverpool at the moment and you are racing for the championship, winning will take you to the championship. That often happens."
However, Neville is still somewhat reserved when pointing out that Arsenal still have a long way to go with many barriers before the championship, even if they win against Liverpool. "About two, three months ago, I thought Arsenal would be 10 or 15 points behind Man City. But obviously, that's not going to happen," said the 48-year-old former defender. "The race is now even. If we win Liverpool, Arsenal still have to face Man City and Newcastle, and those will be very difficult matches."
Arsenal currently leads the Premier League with 72 points from 29 matches, while Man City reaches 64 points from 28 matches and is second. In the 30th round, if they beat Southampton in the early match on April 8, Man City will shorten the gap to five points and put pressure on Arsenal when the "Gunners" have to be Liverpool's guests a day later.
Neville said Arsenal will be under great pressure when marching to Etihad Stadium with a gap of five points. According to the British player, if he wins Arsenal, Man City will reduce the gap to two points and then surpass the opponent in the final rounds. But Neville thinks it would be better for the Premier League if Arsenal won, because Man City dominated the league in four of the last five seasons. He explained: "People always think that the Premier League is the most competitive league, with clubs that are not highly rated can win. Before the tournament, everyone thought Man City or Liverpool would take the throne, but not not Arsenal".
"The fact that Arteta can go from the top 4 goal to the championship is proof of the competitiveness in the English Premier League," added Neville. "That hasn't happened in the last five years. It's going to be a completely unbelievable story, and so the last six weeks of the season will be extremely exciting."
In the remaining rounds, in addition to Liverpool, Arsenal also have guests against Man City, Newcastle, West Ham and London derby with Chelsea at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, in addition to Arsenal, Man City only has to meet one opponent in the Big 6 group with a welcome to Chelsea at Etihad in the penultimate round. However, the army under Pep Guardiola still has two rounds to meet Bayern in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on April 11 and April 19, in addition to the match against Sheffield United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on April 22.
