Gary Neville makes Manchester City title prediction after north London derby | OneFootball

Former Manchester United captain and current Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has given his two cents on the Premier League title race following the weekend’s results.

Manchester City maintained their fine winning run with a fifth straight triumph in all competitions as Nico O’Reilly’s brace either side of a Lewis Hall leveller secured all three points in a fifth meeting with Newcastle United of the season on Saturday night.

Arsenal have struggled for wins of late but against a Tottenham side at risk of relegation, the Gunners reminded their doubters that they remain well-equipped to challenge for the Premier League title as a brace from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres each helped Mikel Arteta and co to a stylish 4-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

City remain five points adrift of the Gunners in the Premier League but hold a game in hand and speaking in the latest edition of the Gary Neville Podcast on Sky Sports, the former Manchester United and England defender gave his latest verdict on the title race.

“City are dangerous. They’re dangerous because they’ve got (Omar) Marmoush, they’ve got (Erling) Haaland, they’ve got (Jeremy) Doku, they’ve got (Antoine) Semenyo, they’ve got (Phil) Foden. So they’re a serious threat,” Neville said.

“If they can keep their centre-backs fit, then they’ve got a real chance. The goalkeeper (Gianluigi Donnarumma) is good and the manager (Pep Guardiola) is exceptional.

“The celebrations at the end (against Newcastle) from Haaland and Pep Guardiola felt meaningful to me. They were sending a message. That was mind games at play. Guardiola will say it’s not, but it is.

“Every time you speak now, for the next two months, every time you do something on the pitch, it’s transmitting something to the opposition – whether that’s vulnerability, strength, celebrations, even over-celebrations. What Arsenal had to cope with today (against Tottenham), and I’ve mentioned the questions they’ve had to answer before, I missed one out.

“And that was the fact that Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland, probably the two most significant figures in the Premier League on and off the pitch, sent a message last night after that game (against Newcastle): ‘We’re coming for you, and we’re going to be breathing down your neck’.

“Arsenal have withstood that today and they’re going to have to withstand it for another six to eight weeks. They were never going to have this Premier League title handed to them on a plate. It doesn’t work like that, particularly when you’re going for your first one.

“If you’re winning your third, fourth, fifth, or sixth title, you can sometimes win it by 10 or 15 points and take it in your stride – but that’s very, very rare. It’s a struggle. It’s a battle. It’s a fight. And to be fair, this City team you’re watching now aren’t quite the same team that went through those battles with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool for three or four years.

“But there are still characters in that dressing room who understand it and know what it takes – particularly the manager. So they’re going to be very dangerous. I think Arsenal will get there, but it doesn’t surprise me that they’re making mistakes and that City are coming back at them.

“I do think they’ll just about get there, maybe crawl over the line in the end. But it’s going to be a massive struggle. I don’t think it’s going to be easy. And that game at the Etihad (Stadium) is going to be monumental.”

Manchester City and Arsenal are fighting tooth and nail for the Premier League table, with the pair also in the running for a historic quadruple ahead of a Carabao Cup final meeting at Wembley on March 22.