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Jamie Carragher highlighted a major flaw in Gary Neville’s title assessment as the ex- Manchester United defender stuck with his pre-season prediction that Arsenal will win the title.
Neville claimed during the first weekend of the season that the Gunners would claim top spot and, despite Liverpool amassing an eight-point lead at the turn of the year, the pundit is not changing his prediction.
Arsenal’s gap could be cut to six points when it plays on New Year’s Day, but Arne Slot ’s side will then have a game in hand on the London club. Asked what could derail Liverpool’s title charge now, Neville pointed out that a major injury might be a problem.
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“If [Virgil] van Dijk got injured it would be a completely different story and that six points which Arsenal could go to in a couple of days’ time could happen and then if Virgil van Dijk [was out], he’s such an immense player for them,” the 49-year-old opined on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
“I think they’ve proven they can live without Alisson who was maybe just as important a couple of years ago. But I think with [Caoimhin] Kelleher backing him up they have that covered.
“Up front, they have options. [Mohamed] Salah would be a blow, he’s world class, but they have [Diogo] Jota, [Luis] Diaz, [Cody] Gakpo and [Darwin] Nunez. The thing about Liverpool at the moment is that when each of them score, they look as happy for each other and that is a worrying sign for the rest.
“They’re all buying into each other and I think when you see someone score a goal… Salah looks happy when Diaz scores and vice versa. They look like they really have something going on up there between them as a group of players.”
Saka suffered a torn hamstring earlier this month. -Credit:Getty Images
But Carragher pointed out a flaw in Neville’s argument that a major injury could impact Liverpool’s title hopes, as Arsenal has just suffered one. “Are you not taking into account Saka’s injury?,” he queried.
“Yeah, things are going against Arsenal and they’re hanging in there,” Neville replied. “They’re the only team that can take it off Liverpool. I’m surprised by Chelsea ’s defeats in the last few games but I never thought they would win the title this season.
“I just think Arsenal have got a resilience to them, they have got a back four that hold it together and get through games and I do think that they’ll attack better in the next part of the season. I think they’ll hang in there and if they could get close to Liverpool towards the end they could hunt them down. That’s what I’m hoping for.”