January 2nd 2024.
Despite suffering back-to-back defeats, Gary Neville has refused to rule Arsenal out of the title race. The former Manchester United defender believes the Gunners can still win the Premier League title.
At the start of 2021, Arsenal were top of the table and had earned a creditable point from their clash against Liverpool. They were expected to collect maximum points from their subsequent matches against West Ham and Fulham, but instead suffered shock defeats that exposed their deficiencies in attack.
Bukayo Saka is Arsenal's top Premier League goalscorer this season with six, followed by Eddie Nketiah with five. However, three of those goals came in one match against Sheffield United and, so far, Nketiah has not scored away from home in an entire calendar year. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesus has scored seven in all competitions, but four of those have come in Europe. Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard, who supplied a steady stream of goals last term, are down on their numbers. Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz have just six Premier League goals between them.
Mikel Arteta is hoping to bolster his attack in the January transfer window, but Arsenal face being priced out of the race to sign either Ivan Toney or Victor Osimhen. Liverpool's emphatic 4-2 win over Newcastle last night means the Gunners now trail Jurgen Klopp's side by five points. With Manchester City on the verge of overtaking them, Arteta's men cannot afford to be anything other than perfect in the coming weeks.
Despite their precarious position, Neville believes Arsenal can still work through a sticky patch and finish the season above their rivals. He commented, "I'm not going to change my prediction, you can't flip flop halfway through a season. They're not completely out of it. They'll be disappointed, they will be disappointed with themselves and the Arsenal fans will disappointed in these last two or three weeks because I think they've missed an opportunity to put themselves in a great position. Not where they'd be in a position where you'd say they're going to win the league but that four, five, six point gap they should've had in these last few weeks they've just got to work it out."
He added, "They've had a difficult patch but they can come back, they still can win the league. The issue is at the top end of the pitch where they have had a problem putting the ball in the back of the net at this moment in time. The striker is an issue. They've got two good strikers in Nketiah and Jesus but they're both two and three striker. They're not a No.1 striker and they need that."
Though Arsenal are facing challenges in the current season, Gary Neville believes the Gunners can still win the Premier League title. He believes they just need to find a way to work through their current difficulties and make the most of the opportunities that will come their way. With the right attitude and a bit of luck, Arsenal may just have a chance to prove Gary Neville right.
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