Gary Neville assessing the title race on his Sky Sports podcast (Picture: YouTube)
Gary Neville ‘fears’ the title race will be decided before the final day of the season as he tipped Manchester City to be crowned Premier League champions ahead of Arsenal.
Arsenal, searching for their first league title since 2004, remain one point ahead of Man City following Saturday’s victory over Bournemouth, but now have just two more games remaining.
City have three more fixtures to play meaning they will win the title for a record fourth successive season if they take maximum points from Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham.
Fans and pundits have been dreaming of a final-day shootout for the title but Neville believes Arsenal’s challenge could be ended when they travel to Old Trafford next week.
Manchester United have struggled for consistency this season but are more than capable of producing surprise results, having knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup and taken Premier League points off Jurgen Klopp’s side last month.
Liverpool can still mathematically win the title but will need to win their next two games and hope for an unexpected meltdown from both Man City and Arsenal to lift the Premier League in Klopp’s final season at Anfield.
Assessing the title race after the weekend results, Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast: ‘A few weeks ago when I said Arsenal had to be perfect and they have just had that one slip-up against Aston Villa, there’s an inevitability of City at this stage of the season, getting the job done, knowing what they need to do.
Close friends Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola are in a battle for the title (Picture: Getty)
‘They have got that difficult game against Spurs on paper in 10 days but the way Spurs are at this moment in time I think it will be difficult for them against a City side playing for the title, it will be a difficult proposition.
‘As I sit here this weekend, Arsenal and City played really well and did their jobs but you wonder where the title race is going to twist. Where is the twist? City don’t give you twists.
‘You always said in years gone by, there will be a twist and turn, something will happen, I’m not sure it is going to happen. What normally happens in these moments is if City win on the Saturday, Arsenal drop points on the Sunday and City win the title on the Tuesday.
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‘That’s what normally happens. It may go to the final day and if it does then it means Arsenal have beaten Man United at Old Trafford. If Arsenal go win at Old Trafford that’s a hell of a win.
‘I have that fear the title race could be over a week on Tuesday. I want the title race to go to the final day, my fear is it won’t if City win on Saturday against Fulham and United take points off Arsenal on the Sunday.
‘Arsenal have already proven they are a different side than last season but just feels like an inevitability City will be perfect until the end.’
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The Gunners visit Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon before finishing their 2023-24 campaign at home to Everton. Man City travel to Fulham on Saturday before taking on Tottenham and West Ham.
City have trailed Arsenal – and previously Liverpool – for much of 2024 but closed the gap to Mikel Arteta’s side to just one point with an impressive 5-1 win over Wolves at the weekend.
Guardiola’s side are out of Europe – suffering a Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid – but could yet clinch a domestic double as they face Manchester United in the FA Cup on May 25.
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