Gary Neville makes Chelsea Premier League title prediction ahead of Arsenal showdown

Gary Neville is convinced Chelsea do not have what it takes to mount a serious Premier League title challenge ahead of next weekend’s summit meeting with Arsenal.

The Blues moved to within three points of the Gunners following Saturday’s routine 2-0 win over Burnely at Turf Moor but Mikel Arteta’s side responded in emphatic fashion 24 hours later in the north London derby.

A 4-1 demolition of Tottenham underlined why Arsenal are considered strong favourites to finally end a 21-year wait to be crowned champions but Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge will represent another acid test of both teams’ credentials.

Chelsea, regardless of tomorrow night’s Champions League clash against Barcelona, will be in justifiably confident mood given their recent form which has seen them win their last three games in the league without conceding.

That sequence of results followed a shock home defeat against Sunderland which showcased a level of naivity that Neville feels offers a truer reflection of where Enzo Maresca’s team will end up at the end of the campaign.

He told Sky Sports: ‘That will be really interesting for Chelsea next week and a good measure for them. What we’ll see with Chelsea during the season is they’ll win a lot of football matches that we think they should do.

‘They’ll tease us and they’ll get close but then they will drop points and maybe drop down to fifth or sixth and then come up to fourth.

‘That’s where we’ll see them move between sixth and second and third and that where we’ll see Chelsea operate in the season.

‘Champions League football, they’ve got quite a lot of young players, they’ve spent a fortune so it’s probably not happening as quickly as they want to I don’t think they are anywhere near a team that can win the league yet. They look well short in a couple of areas.

‘But they’re good, they’re a good team. They are not a great side, I don’t think they’ve got great players.

‘They’re a good team with a good squad and should be with the investment they’ve made and I think they will finish in the top four.

‘They will get close and they’ll tease us and have us thinking are they the closest challengers but I don’t think that will emerge as the season goes on. But next weekend is a real tough test and that’s where you find out about these types of teams.

‘Chelsea will want to win the title in the next couple of years but they don’t seem close to it at this moment.’

Despite their relatively significant advantage at this stage of the campaign, Arteta sounded a note of caution after Eberechi Eze’s hat-trick against Spurs on Sunday.

The Arsenal manager said: ‘In this league, not much. We are doing really well, we’ve been really consistent, and that’s it.

‘I mean, when you look at the results, whether they win or lose, the difference in the scoreline and actually what happens in games is really small.

‘We know that. We need players back immediately today. We’ve got Noni back on the pitch, which is great, but we’re still missing a lot, a lot of important players, and we’re going to need all of them.

‘The good news is we lost big Gabi, which is a massive blow, and Piero [Hincapie] comes in, and I think he was fantastic from the beginning.’