Gary Neville fears for ‘wobbling like crazy’ Arsenal as Carragher tears two stars to shreds after Southampton draw
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Gary Neville, Sky Sports pundit
Gary Neville believes Manchester City will “smell blood” when Arsenal travel to play them on Wednesday after expressing his fears for their title chances following the 3-3 draw against Southampton on Friday night.
The Gunners have now dropped points in their last three matches to open the door for City. A one-time mammoth lead at the top has now been whittled down to just four points, with City boasting two games in hand.
And with the two sides set to meet at the Etihad next week, Neville fears another disastrous result.
Having blown two-goal leads to draw at Liverpool and then at West Ham, Arsenal had to chase down 2-0 and 3-1 deficits themselves on Friday night. And while they hit back to claim a point with two late strikes, the outcome was not as they had hoped.
Mikel Arteta strongly protected his players in the wake of the draw, praising their spirit to come back.
Neville, however, fears they now need to get a positive result at City to retain any hope of winning the title.
And with 19 years since their last crown, Neville believes the pressure is starting to get to them.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said: “It’s the one game in the run-in that Arsenal are not expected to win.
“So, can they condition their minds away from games where they are facing the bottom of the league in Southampton or West Ham, who are near the relegation zone.
“This is the one game they have left where everyone will think Man City are favourites. Does that take the pressure off the Arsenal players and free their minds?”
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Neville reveals where it has all gone wrong for Arsenal
Assessing what has changed for them in recent games, Neville believes the pressure of the run-in is starting to affect them.
“They have definitely got a little more tense in this last couple of games. There are things we are seeing that are not Arsenal-like from the rest of the season.
“They haven’t got that freedom of play and they aren’t creating chances like they have done in the past.
“They did start to create chances in the final 10 minutes, but they didn’t create much for a lot of the second half.
“It’s a mentality thing now. It is making sure they rest, what they do this weekend and how they look after themselves. But also getting into a mindset of thinking, actually City have to win on Wednesday because they are at home.
“The Arsenal players have to go there and play with freedom and the excitement they have played with all season.
“The worry is they are conceding goals and Manchester City are experienced and they smell blood.
“There are all the hallmarks here of a team that are wobbling like crazy going to the line.
“They are looking fatigued, they are making mistakes, they look nervous and basically, they are not doing the things they have done in matches all season.
“They are all the hallmark signs of a team that are struggling to get through it.
“We’ll see what happens. It’s a magnificent game for them to look forward to but can they play at their best and with the freedom they could get by being underdogs.”
Carragher savages two Arsenal stars after 3-3 draw
Analysing Friday’s game, Jamie Carragher reckons Aaron Ramsdale’s error after just 28 seconds to gift the visitors the lead.
And Carragher was far from impressed with the Gunners keeper as he went in hard on the keeper and one of his teammates.
“It’s a mess from Aaron Ramsdale, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “Talking about Arsenal trying to show composure, that was what they were trying to do earlier in the game but [Carlos] Alcaraz reads the pass brilliantly, he’s waiting for that pass to go in there and he sets off before it’s played – reads the game brilliantly.
“Takes a couple of touches and gets a decent effort away. But as I said, from the goalkeeper it’s really poor. He’s got to save it. We said it for the Jarrod Bowen goal at West Ham that made it 2-2.
“Listen, he’s been praised the last couple of weeks for his performance at Anfield. Alcaraz does brilliantly to read the pass and get the shot off but he wouldn’t have expected to score that. He shouldn’t score. Ramsdale gets that right hand on it, he should be dealing with it, he should be stronger.”
Carragher also felt the performance of Gabriel left a lot to be desired, especially in the way Southampton scored their second.
“[Thomas] Partey’s involved again, [Martin] Odegaard and [Fabio] Vieira’s the wrong side,” Carragher added. “So the whole midfield just gets taken out of the game. Again, it’s a brilliant pass, great run, a typical Theo Walcott goal. But, I’m putting myself in the position of Gabriel, just watch Gabriel.
“He goes with the run but he’s got to know he’s going to come inside, it was so obvious. The pass was not going to go wide to Theo Walcott – he had to cut that off. Then, can he finish there as he’s done so often over the years? He can.”