Arsenal are eight points clear of Manchester City heading into the weekend; watch Southampton vs Man City on Saturday from 5pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event; kick-off 5.30pm; watch Liverpool vs Arsenal on Sunday from 4pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event; kick-off 4.30pm
Saturday 8 April 2023 17:41, UK
Gary Neville believes Arsenal will "definitely" go on to win the Premier League title if they beat Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Arsenal hold an eight-point lead over Manchester City but the chasers have a game in hand and can close the gap to five on Saturday evening in front of the Sky Sports cameras when they head to Southampton.
With nine games left, Mikel Arteta's side are on course to win the club's first league title since 2004 and Neville believes they can take a big step towards doing so this weekend.
"If Arsenal go to Anfield and win I'd say definitely it will be their title because the confidence from that will be unbelievable. If they lose at Anfield it then becomes a really tight race," said Sky Sports pundit Neville.
"Our manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) would say to us if you're playing Liverpool away at this time of year and you're going for the title, and you win, you win the league. Quite often that proved to be the case.
"About two or three months ago, I thought Arsenal would finish 10 or 15 points behind Man City. That's not going to be the case now, obviously. It's 50-50 now. If Arsenal win at Liverpool, they definitely become favourites, but there's still a long way to go. Arsenal have to go to City and Newcastle, and they're going to be very difficult games."
Neville, though, is sticking with his prediction that Man City will lift their fifth title in six seasons.
"I'm still saying City will just win it because at some point they will get close enough to Arsenal and they'll flex their muscles," he said.
"If City are within four or five points when they play them that pressure will become unbearable for those Arsenal players. I know it because I've been there myself and I've been dragged over the line by senior players in the team.
"For the Premier League, it's far better if Arsenal win it because City have won it four times in the last five years: [for] the idea this league is competitive, and the idea that teams we don't think can win it at the start of the season [can win it]. No one thought Arsenal were going to win it. Everyone thought Man City or Liverpool.
"For Arsenal to win it would demonstrate what we like about the Premier League - that we think, even though it's not been the case in the last five years, it's a competitive league, that anyone can beat anyone.
"This would be the real proof of it if Mikel Arteta can go from outside the top four to winning the league. That would be an absolutely incredible story and we've got a hell of a five or six weeks to come. It's all to play for in the top four, at the bottom and in the title race."
Speaking to Sky Sports after Liverpool claimed a draw at Chelsea on Tuesday - despite recording an expected goals total of just 0.35 compared to their host's 2.12 - Jamie Carragher said he was "fascinated" by Jurgen Klopp's insistence on continuing to deploy the same tactics.
"Liverpool still play the same way," said the former Reds defender. "The same idea is there but they cannot do it.
"It just fascinates me. If you are a manager, do you always stick to your same idea, your principles, or do you adapt them with how your players are?
"Klopp is a great manager but even tonight Liverpool are trying to play like the Liverpool of three years ago. They have got a 0-0 out of it - you are scratching your head how.
"The big thing is how easy it is for the opposition to get chances - that is the worry for me.
"Klopp is not taking a backward step. They have tried different things, gone 4-4-2 on occasion, at times they have dropped off slightly. But he is not going to change completely. He does what he does.
"But right now they do not have the players to do it and if he keeps doing it, they are just going to leave themselves open because they are basically playing man for man all over the pitch.
"Whether that is because the same players have been doing it for three or four years and they need new players… I don't know if there is anything more to it than that.
"They just need to attack the transfer market and get back to having those players in the team so they can then implement Klopp's idea."
Watch Southampton vs Man City on Saturday from 5pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event; Kick-off 5.30pm
Watch Liverpool vs Arsenal on Sunday from 4pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event; Kick-off 4.30pm
April 9: Liverpool (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 16: West Ham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
April 21: Southampton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
April 26: Man City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm
April 29: Chelsea (H) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 7: Newcastle (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 13: Brighton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Nottingham Forest (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Wolves (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
April 8: Southampton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 11: Bayern Munich (H) - Champions League, kick-off 8pm
April 15: Leicester (H) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 19: Bayern Munich (A) - Champions League, kick-off 8pm
April 22: Sheffield United (N) - FA Cup, kick-off 3pm
April 26: Arsenal (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm
April 30: Fulham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
May 3: West Ham (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 7: Leeds United (H) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
May 13: Everton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Chelsea (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Brentford (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
TBA: Brighton (A) - Premier League
