Man City returned to the Premier League summit with victory in their game in hand at Spurs as Erling Haaland's double ensured they moved two points clear of Arsenal; watch Man City vs West Ham live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 3pm on Sunday; kick-off 4pm
Monday 20 May 2024 10:37, UK
Gary Neville says Arsenal must focus on the job of beating Everton on Sunday, but concedes he does not see a scenario where Manchester City are not crowned champions.
City returned to the Premier League summit with victory in their game in hand at Tottenham on Tuesday night as Erling Haaland's second-half double ensured they moved two points clear of second-placed Arsenal.
It means a win against West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday will result in City clinching a fourth consecutive league title - a feat which has never previously been achieved in the top tier of English football.
Speaking to Peter Drury in the immediate aftermath of City's seismic victory in north London, Neville said on the latest edition of his podcast: "Man City don't make mistakes. I was there when [Sergio] Aguero scored that goal 12 years ago and it was unbelievable to be in that stadium and see how QPR had done.
"That was City's first title and they were nowhere near as efficient, mature and knowledgeable as they are now. I just don't see any way Man City don't go and finish the job on Sunday and we won't be talking over another Man City trophy walk.
"Arsenal - do your job. These things do count when you look back and you see a title win by one point or four points, it does count psychologically. You think 'we were close to them' and get as close as you can and make sure you finish the season well.
"Arsenal have got a difficult game against Everton, they just need to make sure they do their job."
The Premier League title race will go down to the final day for only the third time in the last decade. In total, there have been nine previous instances when the champions have not yet been crowned heading into the final round of fixtures.
However, on all previous occasions when the battle for supremacy has gone down to the wire, the team leading the table at the start of the final day has never been usurped.
City are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League games against West Ham since a 2-1 home loss in September 2015.
Another good omen for Guardiola's side is that West Ham have lost 15 of their 17 league away games against City at the Etihad Stadium.
Jamie Carragher said: "David Moyes said after the game against Luton that it would be difficult to beat Man City's U14s so that doesn't bode well for Arsenal supporters.
"Anything can happen in a football game, we've seen strange things happen. The only way something could happen is if Man City got a player sent off at 0-0. I can't see City losing that game if it's 11 vs 11, so something freakish would have to happen.
"But most Arsenal fans will be thinking [after Tuesday's game] that the title is gone."
Neville added: "When they didn't beat City, I thought it was probably a moment where, I think, you've got to damage them. You've got to do something spectacular. That's easier said than done because they're amazing. But when they didn't beat them, you just think..."
Carragher interjected: "It's the Villa game [Arsenal's 2-0 home defeat] for me, though, Gaz."
"I think the job Mikel Arteta has done is absolutely fantastic. People say he spent a lot of money. He has. But the biggest indicator of where someone finishes in the league is the wage bill. When you actually look at the wage bill of Manchester City - and Liverpool are not far behind Manchester City compared to what Arsenal's are - it's a massive gulf.
"And more often than not, that decides where the Premier League title goes. So you might have a situation where you might have to wait for Pep Guardiola to go.
"But if Mikel Arteta doesn't win anything again next season, that might be a fourth season without any trophy. But, for me, I'd almost think 'he's a top manager. We know we've got one of the best. We might have to wait till Pep goes'. Don't do anything silly. Don't panic. This guy knows what he's doing. We've seen that in the last couple of years, and you just got to hang on in there."
Neville added: "Everyone will go to the Villa game. They will. Look, rightly so. But you might have in a normal run, you may have one mistake. I just look at it and think, do they have to wait for Pep Guardiola to leave in the next year or two? Or do they just have to somehow get that extra two points from somewhere?
"But you can't talk about that because Arsenal have been amazing in this season. The amount of points they've amassed is fantastic."
Watch Man City vs West Ham live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 3pm on Sunday; kick-off 4pm.
