Gary Neville says Liverpool and Man City are nowhere near Arsenal's level this season

[Patrick94]

Gary Neville used his Sky Sports podcast this week to declare that Arsenal are clear favorites to retain the Premier League title, dismissing Liverpool and Manchester City's chances after both sides struggled through unconvincing performances on opening weekend. Arsenal opened their title defense with a routine 3-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City on Friday night, looking comfortable throughout in a way neither of their supposed main rivals managed just two days later.

City needed two late goals just to beat Bournemouth at home under new manager Enzo Maresca, eventually winning 2-1 through a last gasp Josko Gvardiol strike. Liverpool fared even more precariously, needing a stoppage time penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai just to salvage a 2-2 draw at Newcastle in Andoni Iraola's first game in charge. Neville pointed specifically at Liverpool's current midfield setup as a structural problem, arguing it leaves the team exposed on the counter attack regardless of who's playing in front of the back four.

What makes Neville's timing notable is how quickly he made the call, barely a single round of fixtures into a 38 game season with brand new managers at both City and Liverpool still finding their feet. He acknowledged as much himself, framing this as maybe the most unpredictable season in years given how much turnover there's been at the top of the table, new managers, new signings, and a level of upheaval that makes any early prediction inherently risky.

Neville also singled out Liverpool's summer signings Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz specifically, saying both players have had enough time now and need to start actually delivering rather than continuing to look tentative in key moments. He described them as too nice for what the position demands, wanting to see far more direct influence from Wirtz especially in the final third going forward. Whether that criticism ages well or gets walked back after a few more rounds of fixtures is very much part of the fun of these kinds of hot takes delivered on the opening weekend of a new season

Premier League title race: Liverpool and Man City nowhere near Arsenal's level, says Gary Nevillewww.skysports.com

[PixelTea26]

Making a definitive title prediction after one round of fixtures with two brand new managers still bedding in feels premature even by pundit standards. Neville's entitled to an opinion but the sample size here is basically nothing