Arsenal: Gary Neville reveals 'biggest threat' to Gunners title push as Man City pile on pressure

In partnership with

Evening Standard

·21 de dezembro de 2025

Arsenal: Gary Neville reveals 'biggest threat' to Gunners title push as Man City pile on pressure

Man United legend believes old rivals could haunt Gunners again

Gary Neville believes Arsenal have the requisite mental fortitude to finally clinch the Premier League title, insisting they will not “bottle it this time.”

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have gained a reputation for falling short after they finished as runners-up in each of the last three Premier League campaigns, twice falling short to Man City and once to Liverpool.

Arsenal will be top of the league at Christmas but have Pep Guardiola’s City looming large in the rear-view mirror, trailing by just two points.

But Neville does not foresee an Arsenal slip-up - provided they can put their injury woes to bed.

Vídeos OneFootball

“City are dangerous,” he told Sky Sports. “They’ve got Haaland, and they’ve got Pep Guardiola. Somebody very special on the pitch, and somebody very special on the bench.

“That is the biggest threat to Arsenal, other than them getting injuries to, say, Declan Rice or a couple of other players.”

He continued, adding that recent blips in form - exemplified by a narrow defeat of Everton on Saturday - are not major issues.

“Arsenal, I think, wouldn’t be too worried about the fact they’ve scraped through these last couple of games, that happens. They weren’t great at Everton last night, but were they ever going to be amazing there?”

For Neville, the proof in the pudding will come in the new year - but he does not expect the Gunners to stumble.

“I think Arsenal are in a good position,” he mused. “What will be really interesting is how they handle it when we get to March, April, May. That is where it’ll get really interesting.

“I feel like going into February or March, Arsenal will extend their lead, is my honest view. I think they’ll get back to five, six points again.

“I feel it's their year. They were always going to get closed down a little bit by City.

“They might be completely and utterly embarrassed if Pep Guardiola and Haaland and Co. could go and win the league again this year. City fans are getting confident.

“They’re thinking it's their year, they’re thinking ‘here we go, we’re close, they’re going to bottle it come March, April, May’, but I’m not sure this Arsenal team will bottle it this time.”