Gary Neville doesn't want Manchester City to win the treble this year but admits they will likely 'overpower' Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
Arsenal drew a third consecutive game on Friday, at home to Southampton, this time coming back from 3-1 down after losing two-goal leads against Liverpool and West Ham in the two previous games. The Gunners were 3-1 down until the 88th minute, with Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka netting twice in as many minutes to rescue a point.
Early mistakes were yet more evidence that Mikel Arteta's side are struggling with the pressure of a title race they have not experienced before. Speaking before Friday's game at the Emirates, Neville said he hopes they can pip City to the title but believes the Blues' experience will ultimately tell.
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"I don’t want Manchester City to win the treble, obviously, so for me Arsenal have got the best chance of stopping them I think," Neville told Sky Sports. "Arsenal would be unbelievable to go from fifth to first, but my feeling all the way through was that I always looked at this period of games and thought that’s going to be really tough, I’m not sure they’re going to get through it, youth might become a hindrance to them and the leaders might not be able to get the younger ones over the line.
"Last week in the second half at West Ham that was a proper wobble - heading it into midfield, kicking it out for a throw-in, not dropping off for the ball. They’re the signs of tension, nerves, anxiety - that’s what you do, you take the easy options. We used to do it with England in the golden generation, 15 minutes to go against Portugal in the 2004 European Championships, we all started pushing up the pitch rather than getting on the ball.
"In the end you end up just defending for your lives and you end up conceding a goal, then you can’t start playing football again. Arsenal didn’t have a chance in the last 10 minutes last week against West Ham, that was a clear sign they were struggling with what was happening to them in that game.
"They’re going to have more difficult tests to come but I’m really intrigued to see how they handle it, but my feeling is City will overpower them and just stride away to the line. It would be amazing if Arsenal could get there."
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