Gary Neville admits he’s ‘less confident’ in his prediction that Man City will win the title

Gary Neville has admitted that he is less confident in his prediction that Manchester City will beat Arsenal to the Premier League title.

The Sky Sports pundit has dismissed Arsenal’s chances in recent months, despite the Gunners now holding a five-point cushion at the top of the table.

He just recently said on the Overlap that Man City will win the title, because ‘panic’ and ‘anxiety’ will kick in for Arsenal during the final months of the season.

However, he has now told Sky Sports that Arsenal could win the league for the first time in 19 years, even if he still ‘anticipates’ Man City will go ahead of them.

Neville said: ‘I think Arsenal have got a pretty good run on paper, the next five or six games look favourable for them. They can really set themselves up for that run-in.

Arsenal hold a five point lead at the top of the standings following their 4-0 win over Everton

‘They are teams that Arsenal, in good form, will beat. But there are a couple of games in there that if you are not quite right – Fulham away, the way they are playing they will cause problems.’

He went on to add: ‘I see Arsenal doing well in these next few weeks, it will come down to those last six to eight games and if City are on their heels, I do anticipate City will go past them.

‘But, at this moment in time, I’m less confident in my prediction than I was four or five weeks ago. I thought City would have got their act together.

‘City not dealing with that left-back position, City still tinkering, fiddling around with the team and the system, Bernardo at left-back like he was in the last 10 minutes against Nottingham Forest, stuff like that will always give you a chance.

‘And Arsenal deserve to be there, they have been the best team by far this season.’

Neville’s comments highlighted City’s issue at left back, following the club’s decision to let Joao Cancelo join Bayern Munich on loan.

Arsenal extended their gap at the top to five points thanks to their 4-0 victory over Everton earlier this week.

Man City had taken points out of Arsenal’s lead last month with a 3-1 victory at the Emirates, only to fail to take advantage of this by dropping points in a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest. 

Neville still ‘anticipates’ Man City will win the title despite his decreasing confidence

He recently slammed Arsenal for their jubilant celebrations at Villa Park and suggested that ‘panic’ and ‘anxiety’ would prevent them from winning their first league title in 19 years

As reported this week, Neville told the Overlap that Arsenal’s jubilant celebrations after coming back to beat Aston Villa 4-2 last week showed they are ‘too emotional,’ while giving the belief that they will throw away the title in the closing weeks of the season.

He said: ‘Arsenal have struggled in latter parts of seasons, with last season the most recent example of this.

‘This is why Manchester City will win the Premier League, because when it gets to the last 10 games, Arsenal will start to panic a little bit, the anxiety will kick in, pressure builds.’

‘If Arsenal do it and win the league it will be an unbelievable achievement, but they haven’t been around the block like Manchester City.

‘When it gets to the final 10 games and it really kicks in – [Kevin] De Bruyne, [Erling] Haaland, [Ruben] Dias, [Ilkay] Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker – these guys who have been there before, they’ll push on. But there are teams who get over the line for the first time and this could be the year for Arsenal.’

Neville criticised Pep Guardiola’s side for not dealing with their problematic left back position