- Neville said on March 3 that Liverpool and Arsenal should beat Manchester City
- That didn’t work out and now Pep Guardiola’s side are in charge of the title race
- IAN LADYMAN and CHRIS SUTTON have their say on the Premier League Player of the Year – Listen to the It all starts podcast
A Premier League title race prediction made by Gary Neville last month could prove to be eerily accurate as Manchester City found themselves at the front of the final stretch.
After City beat Manchester United 3-1 in the derby on March 3, Neville said on Sky Sports that Liverpool and Arsenal needed to beat Pep Guardiola’s team to have a chance.
A week later, City went to Anfield and drew 1-1 despite the best efforts of Jurgen Klopp’s men.
On 31 March, Arsenal came to the Etihad Stadium and the title match ended in a goalless draw.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal have failed to beat City and are now feeling the intense pressure of the title race.
Gary Neville’s highly accurate prediction of how the Premier League title race will go has emerged again after Manchester City took advantage of Arsenal and Liverpool’s missteps
The title appears to be Manchester City’s to lose after taking the lead this weekend
City remained top after both Liverpool and Arsenal suffered damaging defeats on Sunday
Your browser does not support iframes.
After Guardiola’s side beat Luton 5-1 on Saturday, Liverpool lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace and Arsenal fell 2-0 to Aston Villa in a major blow to their title aspirations.
It left City two points clear at the top of the table with six games to play and their chances of winning four titles in a row.
The clip in which ex-Man United defender Neville predicted exactly this emerged on Sunday evening after City’s title rivals both lost.
In it, Neville said: ‘I really think Liverpool and Arsenal must think they can beat Manchester City.
‘They need to think this way to create this monumental shift in City’s belief that they will win the league. It’s their time of year, they’re experienced and have won three.
‘I always think when we lost titles, whether it was against Chelsea [Carlo] Ancelotti, or [Sylvain] Wiltord at Old Trafford, or [Marc] Overmars scored at Old Trafford, the team that eventually won came to Old Trafford and won.
‘They didn’t just come to Old Trafford to draw, get a point and do well, they came and shocked us.
That came after Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace in a blow to their title ambitions
Arsenal lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa as their title chances suffered a major blow
“I think that’s what Liverpool and Arsenal have to do to take the faith away from this Pep Guardiola team because they will find it ominous at the moment.”
That didn’t work out and now City look favorites to win again given their vast title-winning experience in recent seasons.
Guardiola will take on Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley next weekend. Arsenal and Liverpool are in action in the league, away against Wolves and Fulham respectively.