Gary Neville says two teams can deny Arsenal the title after Man City beat Liverpool

Gary Neville believes three teams can still win the Premier League title after Manchester City’s statement victory over Liverpool.

Man City thumped the defending champions 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game as a manager.

Erling Haaland broke the deadlock with a deflected header shortly after seeing his penalty saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Liverpool thought they had equalised through Virgil van Dijk but his header was controversially ruled out for offside.

Arne Slot was furious with the decision and his mood got even worse when Nico Gonzalez rifled home Man City’s second on the stroke of half-time.

Liverpool improved after the break but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when player of the match Jeremy Doku curled in a brilliant third for the hosts.

A fifth defeat in 11 league games leaves Slot’s side eighth in the Premier League table, eight points adrift of early pacesetters Arsenal.

Arsenal have been far the best team in England this season but their ten-game winning run came to an end on Saturday as they drew 2-2 with Sunderland.

That result and Man City’s impressive victory over Liverpool means Guardiola’s side are just four points behind the league leaders.

Neville admits it looks as though Man City will provide the greatest competition to Arsenal but has refused to rule Liverpool out of the title race.

‘I thought today was about which of these two clubs was going to emerge as Arsenal’s nearest challengers and could they send a message to the Gunners?’ Neville told Sky Sports.

‘Pep Guardiola, in his 1000th game as a manager, his team and his staff, have done that.

‘It’s a really good day for Guardiola and Man City, but it’s a difficult day for Arne Slot and Liverpool.’

Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville added: ‘Pep has giving them a bit of belief going into the international belief.

‘They’re four points off Arsenal, they’ve got experience and they’ve got players who have been around the block and know how to win titles.

‘He will just want to hang on Mikel Arteta’s shoulder by March because he’s the one you don’t want near you.

‘I thought the biggest challenger [to title favourites Arsenal] would be Liverpool, I thought Man City were too inconsistent, but it looks like I was badly wrong.

‘It was a really good day for Pep Guardiola and his City team. If they can still be around there and get close they are going to be really, really dangerous during the run-in just because of their experience.

‘They’ve still got to convince me that they’re going to win the title – Arsenal are the better team – but they’re the one team and the one manager you wouldn’t want on your shoulder going down the home straight.’

Pressed on whether Liverpool could still be considered contenders for the title, Neville added: ‘I’m going to say yes.

‘If it clicked something could happen. They’ve got firecrackers and world-class players in that dressing room.

‘There’s big characters too, Van Dijk, Alisson and Salah are huge characters. They’re Premier League greats so if they can pull it together with the manager who had a great first season and get something going with the younger players, maybe they can still do something.

‘But today was a worry because it was a really, really poor performance. They need to have a good look at themselves and they’ll know they’re nowhere near it at this moment in time.’

Arsenal would have been six points clear during the November international break had it not been for Sunderland’s injury-time equaliser at the Stadium of Light.

But Manchester United legend and ex-England defender Neville downplayed the importance of the Sunderland draw.

‘I wasn’t sat there thinking it was a huge blow for Arsenal,’ he added. ‘I actually thought it was a game that might catch them out a bit.

‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and there’s going to bumps along the road. It’s normal to drop some points in the Premier League so I wouldn’t be screaming or shouting if I was an Arsenal player.

‘Conceding a late goal gives you a sickening feeling but they just need to get back to winning ways again after the international break.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.