Former Arsenal player, Paul Merson believes that it is increasingly difficult for the Gunners to stop winning the Premier League, following the 0-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in Week 20 of the Premier League at Tottenham Stadium, London (15/1).
However, a different opinion was expressed by former Manchester United player, Gary Neville, who doubted Arsenal’s consistency for the remaining 20 matches.
Neville still believes that Manchester City, which has a deeper squad, will overtake them even though they are now eight points behind the Gunners at the top.
An own goal from Hugo Lloris, and a long-range strike from Martin Odegaard gave Mikel Arteta’s side a vital victory in this North London derby.
The Gunners have now won 15 of their 18 Premier League games, and have lost only once
Mikel Arteta’s squad have a crucial game at the Emirates next week (22/1) against Manchester United, who are nine points adrift in fourth place behind Manchester City and Newcastle.
Merson believes Arsenal are ‘hard to stop’ chasing the Premier League title if they beat the Red Devils next weekend.
“Everything will be clear next Sunday. I think if United beat (Crystal) Palace, and then beat Arsenal at the Emirates, they are only three points away from the Gunners,” he told the Daily Mail.
“But if Arsenal win that game, the situation will be different. United are out of the way, and it’s Man City who will go after Arsenal,” said Merson.
He praised the Gunners’ first-half performance, which he said was similar to Manchester City’s performance.
“If you had lived in New Zealand, and you hadn’t seen football for the last four years, and they were playing in light blue, you would think they were Man City. How good they are,” he said.
On the other hand, Gary Neville believes that Manchester City is still the most likely to win. If you can beat Tottenham Hotspur (20/1), they are only five points away from Arsenal.
“At some point there will be a very difficult period for Arsenal this season. Can Arsenal continue like this? I don’t think so,” said Neville.
The former United defender believes City can turn things around and predicts the depth and quality of their squad will beat Arsenal in the end.
“The reality is, I think at some point Man City will succeed. Once they do, they will finish Arsenal,” he said.
“If Erling Haaland starts fit, and returns to his best form.
If City start to heat up again, if their defense starts to be a bit stronger than they are now, and Ruben Dias is back, I think it’s City who will come back to the top,” Neville predicted.
