Gary Neville believes Arsenal will not win the Premier League title this season after their 1-1 draw to Manchester United yesterday afternoon.
The Gunners snatched a late point away to United thanks to an Olivier Giroud header, despite a woeful display from Arsene Wenger’s men.
Although Neville praised Arsenal for extending their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 11 games, the former Manchester United right-back suggests Wenger’s men haven’t shown enough in the big games to convince him they will break their 12-year title drought.
Neville was quoted on Sky Sports, as reported by The Daily Mirror, saying:
‘They are a resilient bunch as they always end up getting back towards that second and third spot come the end of the season.
‘I didn’t get the impression today watching Arsenal that we were watching a team that would go on and win the Premier League.
‘That is just how I feel in this moment. I watched them earlier in the season against Liverpool and I watched the game against Tottenham – I didn’t feel I was watching champions.’
Arsenal have played 12 Premier League games now and currently sit fourth in the table with 25 points, only two adrift of both Liverpool and Manchester City who are separated by goal difference at the top.
Although it was a disappointing display from Arsenal, the fans will be they ended up with coming away from the game at Old Trafford with a point.
The Gunners haven’t been quite up to standards in the performance department this season but they are still in touching distance with their rivals, and that’s a positive sign for the Emirates faithful going into the Christmas period.
Neville’s assessment of Arsenal may be correct, but it’s wrong of him or anyone for the matter to rule them out of lifting the title at the end of the season with 26 games still yet to play. Yes, they do need to step it up a gear and perform better, but they’re in good stead so far without being brilliant.
Hopefully they can get past Christmas without suffering too much damage and picking up positive results. If they manage to do this then they have a shot at winning the Premier League title. But for now, I think it’s too early to rule them out of it.
