‘First time I thought...’ - Gary Neville has say on Premier League title race between Arsenal and Man City

Gary Neville believes Pep Guardiola’s decision to consistently tinker with his Manchester City side will play into Arsenal’s hands as the race for the Premier League title heats up. The Gunners are currently five points clear at the summit.

Guardiola has a tendency to change up his starting eleven on a regular basis and had the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Ruben Dias on the bench last time out against Tottenham Hotspur. City ended up losing 1-0 after Harry Kane’s first-half goal.

Arsenal have been reluctant to switch up their team too much this term and that has seen their players gel together well. They lost to Everton last weekend but that was just their second loss of this campaign.

Neville, speaking on The Overlap Live Fan Debate, in partnership with SkyBet, has said:

“I looked at Manchester City’s team on Sunday before the Tottenham game, and that was the first time I thought that Arsenal can win the league this season. Pep Guardiola is playing around with his starting team far too much – I wasn’t sure why Kevin De Bruyne or Ilkay Gündogan weren’t starting, why Rúben Dias or Aymeric Laporte weren’t back in defence to make them more solid. Seeing their team against Tottenham, was the first time when I wasn’t sure that they’ll catch Arsenal.

“After Arsenal’s defeat to Everton, I thought that Pep would put out his strongest side against Tottenham, and that’s when we’ll start to see the City resurgence, but if he carries on playing around with the team, then they won’t catch them.

He added: “From Arsenal’s point of view, it was a good weekend of results for them. I imagine Arsenal fans may have been worried on Saturday afternoon after their defeat, but I think they come out of the weekend in a better place psychologically.”

Arsenal are back in action on Saturday with a tricky home clash against Brentford at the Emirates Stadium. The Bees are unbeaten in their last nine league outings.

City, on the other hand, have Aston Villa at home on Sunday. The top two then play eachother on Wednesday 15th February.