Gary Neville questions Xabi Alonso decision and predicts where Chelsea will finish after Arsenal loss

Gary Neville says Chelsea are going in the ‘right direction’ under Xabi Alonso and should finish no lower than third in the Premier League this season.

After winning their opening two matches against Fulham and Brighton, Chelsea were given their sternest test yet away to the champions Arsenal on Sunday.

The visitors got off to a dream start as Morgan Rogers fired a brilliant second-minute volley past David Raya from the edge of the box to send the away end into raptures at the Emirates.

But the Gunners rallied and found an equaliser through Kai Havertz, who beat Emiliano Martinez at his near post with a smart finish against his former club.

The two teams went into the half-time break all square before Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard capitalised on an exquisite dummy from Havertz to put the hosts in front for the first time in the contest.

Mikel Arteta’s men held firm to come away from the derby with a 2-1 victory, ensuring they moved level on points with Manchester City – last year’s runners-up – at the top of the table.

Arsenal are now undefeated in their last 12 matches in all competitions versus the Blues, dating back to the latter’s 2-0 win at the Emirates in August 2021.

Chelsea’s latest setback leaves the club stuck down in fourth, with Alonso’s side facing third-placed Hull City in their next top-flight game on Saturday afternoon.

Dissecting the match on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville picked out where there remain some question marks in Chelsea’s starting XI.

The former Manchester United and England right-back also revealed his ‘surprise’ at Alonso’s decision to remove Romeo Lavia for Malo Gusto on the hour-mark in north London.

‘I thought Emiliano Martinez should have saved that first goal and he’ll be really disappointed with that,’ Neville said.

‘The back three is a question and whether that can grow to be good enough… [Wesley] Fofana not reading the one where Havertz dummies it. Again, just that experience, being wise.

‘Whether the wing-backs are good enough right now… but I think [Pedro] Neto did a very good job and [Jorrel] Hato’s done okay.

‘In midfield, I thought Lavia played well. He was disappointed to go off and I was surprised to see him go off but they don’t want to lose him, maybe they thought Gusto and Reece James [was the best option].

‘That will be a question: if you’ve got [Moises] Caicedo and Lavia in there, I think Chelsea are going to have a very, very good midfield two, but keeping those two fit is going to be the question.

‘Caicedo is outstanding and Lavia is an excellent player so I think if Chelsea can keep that midfield two fit and keep Reece James fit, they’ve obviously got that front three, they’re in a good place.’

Neville – who won eight Premier League titles with United – feels Chelsea can finish second this season, as long as they are able to keep the majority of their key players fit.

‘I think they can finish second. Third is the lowest I see Chelsea finishing,’ he added.

‘If you’d have said that to me a year ago, they were absolutely nowhere. I couldn’t see where this project was going.

‘Xabi Alonso said before the game that it’s early in this project and it is.

‘He’s trying to establish a bit of experience in the spine with Martinez, Henderson, Lacroix and Welbeck and I think it’s the right way to go, you need good, experienced players in your dressing room.

‘For me, I’m as positive as I have been for three, four, five years about Chelsea because I think they’re going in the right direction.’

Despite the result, Neville believes Chelsea fans will be ‘buying into’ the project at long lost and thinks the squad can take ‘confidence’ from the match.

‘It’s not perfect. They were on the wrong end of a result against Arsenal because Arsenal are such a good team and I wouldn’t expect them to beat Arsenal,’ he went on.

‘But that was as good as I felt they could have done in the game and they can go home thinking, “We can take confidence out of that defeat”, and that doesn’t sound right when you’re at the elite level. But I think people will know what I mean by it.

‘You can sit here are say, “It’s win or nothing”, but that’s not what football is. Only one team wins the league every year, only one team wins the Champions League every year.

‘Every elite club in Europe – France, Spain, Germany, Italy – want to win it so there is an element of making sure you’re seeing your club go in the right direction.

‘I think those fans in the corner that have travelled from Stamford Bridge will be buying into what they’re seeing.’

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