Gary Neville drops new Liverpool title claim before Southampton and makes blunt Arsenal 'pressure' admission
Liverpool could move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League after Man City’s loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Gary Neville has claimed there is more pressure on Arsenal than Liverpool to win the Premier League title after Manchester City's latest shock defeat.
City have won the past four top-flight crowns but face relinquishing their dominance. A 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium was their third successive league reverse - and fifth in all competitions.
It leaves Liverpool five points clear at the top of the table and that gap could become eight if they prove triumphant over Southampton today. Not many would have predicted the Reds to be in such a commanding position after Arne Slot replaced the legendary Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield hot seat in the summer.
Arsenal are a point behind City after they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0. The Gunners have finished runners-up in the previous two seasons. Neville, speaking after Pep Guardiola's side's loss to Spurs, believes that there can be no excuses for Liverpool or Arsenal given City's plight.
Speaking to Sky Sports, former Manchester United captain Neville said: "I sit here tonight, with a long way to go, thinking this feels different. If you're Arsenal, if you're Liverpool - I'm thinking the two genuine teams that can win the title other than City - you must not get carried away but feel there are no excuses here now.
“I'm looking more at Arsenal with that statement that Liverpool. At the start of the season, anyone looking at Arne Slot coming in and has done what he's done would say: 'I'm not quite sure that will happen'. This was Arsenal's season if it wasn't going to be City's.
“The pressure is really on Arsenal to step up and go for it, they had a good win today. But for Liverpool to be sat at the top of the league, with that back five they have got and front players and options they have, they must be really fancying it. Big game next week (Liverpool host City at Anfield) and I know there is a long way to go but it feels like if City were to win the title, it would be Pep Guardiola's greatest Premier League.”