Manchester United stalwart and prominent football pundit Gary Neville has come out with a criticism of the mentality of the Arsenal squad and went on to suggest that the Gunners would not win the league despite having the opportunity to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Neville referred to the celebrations of the Arsenal players following their victory against Aston Villa just more than a week ago. 

The Gunners fought hard to win the game, after going behind twice, thanks to goals from Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho, as they mounted a late heist, scoring two goals in stoppage time to register a 4-2 victory at Villa Park against former manager Unai Emery. Get attractive odds on all Manchester United matches on SBObet.

Wild celebrations ensued after the game, as an understandably passionate Arsenal side erupted with joy. There was more to celebrate than just the victory, as the win kept them clear of Manchester City, who would have drawn level on points with the Gunners if not for the victory. 

Arsenal, who were eight points clear at the topic going into the World Cup break, seemed to have the title slipping out of their hands after dropping points against Everton and Brentford, before losing to Manchester City as well. The Gunners have managed to pull clear after favourable results in their favour, as City drew to Nottingham Forest. Follow the latest updates on the Premier League on SBObet Football.

Neville was of the opinion that their attitude was a negative heading into a potentially nail-biting title race. The eight-time Premier League champion said that emotion always holds back the team in pressure situations. 

The former Manchester United defender had predicted prior to the start of the season that Erik Ten Hag’s United side would finish above the Gunners, and has only doubled down on his prediction, even as the Red Devils find themselves in a steep chase. Follow updates related to multiple sports on SBObet Sport.

“After the Aston Villa game, I can understand how big of a moment it was, but that level of celebration was quite desperate, quite early. There was a lot of celebrations at the end of the game. The emotions are something that’s a negative, it’s not a positive for me in a title race. Arsenal have struggled in latter parts of seasons, with last season the most recent example of this. This is why Manchester City will win the Premier League, because when it gets to the last 10 games, Arsenal will start to panic a little bit, the anxiety will kick in, pressure builds,” Neville said.