Gary Neville is still backing Arsenal to win the Premier League and says their current blip could inspire them to end their 21-year wait for the title.
Arsenal are winless in their last three games after losing at Newcastle, leaving them seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool just 10 games into the season ahead of a huge trip to Chelsea on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
The Gunners’ difficult run of form has coincided with the absence of key players, most notably captain Martin Odegaard through injury, and a string of red-card suspensions for Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice and William Saliba.
Sky Sports pundit Neville said Arsenal must forget about their problems and focus on returning to form ahead of their best players becoming available again.
“I still have them winning the title and this might be what they need to win the title,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“I might look completely and utterly stupid and there’ll be people playing this clip in three or four months saying, ‘what the hell were you talking about?’
“I always think about what a team needs to go through to win a title – Manchester City aren’t quite right, Liverpool aren’t perfect – sometimes you just need this little bit of a serious blip.
“It’s been a poor start for them really in terms of where we’ve expected them to be but they could get the players back post international break and go on a run. It could be very dangerous towards March, April, May.”
He added: “There is an element of Arsenal just feeling a little bit sorry for themselves that they’ve got a few injuries. We’re not interested. Come on. You can win the league title.
“This is where you become a hero. It’s where you become Arsenal legends. No one’s interested in whether you’ve got a few injuries for a part of the season. Those players will come back. Don’t wait for them.
“That’s when you really want to be flying.”
Carragher: Arsenal not out of race – but Chelsea is huge
Jamie Carragher is less confident about Arsenal’s chances but still counts them as contenders because of the difficult away schedule they have faced already this season.
Arsenal have already won at Aston Villa and Tottenham while taking a point from their trip to Manchester City despite being a player down for the entire second half.
Carragher expects their next game against Chelsea, another tough away trip, will be important for Arsenal’s chances in the title race, with a defeat potentially opening up the gap to the top even further.
He said: “They’re not out of the race, but I do think the weekend’s game at Chelsea is huge for them. It’s a massive game.
“I think if they were to lose that game, and City and Liverpool won, and then it’s 10 points and eight points, I think that’s a lot to make up.
“If they could get a result at the weekend, and even if they went to Chelsea and won, they have got a lot of big away games out the way at this early stage.
“So if they could keep the deficit where it is now between Liverpool and Manchester City, I think it’s five points and seven points, and they’ve played five or six of the real big teams away from home. They’re not in the worst position.”
Carragher: Man City might need a midfielder
Carragher says Manchester City may need to sign a midfielder in January if they want to achieve their goals this season.
City, champions four years on the trot, are without Rodri for the rest of the season through injury and Carragher thinks Pep Guardiola does not have the players at his disposal to adequately make up for that loss.
Guardiola’s side were beaten at Bournemouth on Saturday, ending a 30-game unbeaten league run and allowing Liverpool to take a two-point lead at the top of the table.
“I look at that central midfield position for them at the moment, they’re missing the best player in the world in that position in Rodri,” the Sky Sports pundit said.
“In terms of Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan in those positions, they’re both the other side of 30, and I think it told a little bit at the weekend when you come up against a really energetic team in Bournemouth, who are outstanding and fully deserved to win.
“I think it would be really interesting if Manchester City go back into the market in January, because I’m not sure, if those two stay in centre midfield between now and the end of the season, they can achieve what they want to.”
Despite his concerns about the midfield position, Carragher still thinks City have the advantage in the title race.
“I said Manchester City at the start of the season, Arsenal have dropped off a little bit from where I thought they would be, Liverpool have probably exceeded expectations slightly, but I would still go with Manchester City,” he added.
Arsenal’s next six fixtures
- November 6: Inter Milan (a) – Champions League
- November 10: Chelsea (a) – Premier League, live on Sky Sports
- November 23: Nottingham Forest (h) – Premier League
- November 26: Sporting Lisbon (a) – Champions League
- November 30: West Ham (a) – Premier League, live on Sky Sports
- December 4: Man Utd (h) – Premier League
