Gary Neville is concerned that Arsenal’s unpredictable pair would lose the club the title.

Gary Neville believes Arsenal’s ‘erratic’ combo of Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah are insufficiently clinical to carry them over the line in a title chase and believes the Gunners need to bring in another goalscorer.

The north Londoners ended their long wait for a win over title rivals Manchester City thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s 86th-minute deflected strike, with both Jesus and Nketiah posing minimal threat – the latter being pulled off despite Arsenal still seeking a goal.

Despite their obvious effort and work rate, Neville believes both players lack the necessary cutting edge and that their lack of goalscoring instinct could eventually lose Arsenal the title this season.

Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, Neville explained: ‘There’s one thing about Arsenal, I’ve watched Arsenal in big games this season – against Tottenham and against City – and look, they’ve both been difficult games.

‘Tottenham have been in good form, and City are City, and they don’t give much away. However, Nketiah and Jesus… Ivan Toney has been linked with Arsenal in January, according to reports this morning.

There’s no doubt Nketiah and Jesus they work their absolute socks off, but in quality terms I just found in those two matches, is that going to be enough to win Arsenal the league?

‘That’s my only doubt is actually a centre-forward, because if they’d had a centre-forward – like if they had a Haaland, if they had a Kane – I’d be saying, “It’s Arsenal I think if they can keep Saliba and Gabriel and Rice fit”.

‘But, honestly, I worry about Nketiah and Jesus. They’re erratic.’

He added: ‘They’re not wired, are they, to score goals naturally. Instinctively they don’t make the runs that you see goalscorers make.

‘They hold back, they’re always looking for the pull-back, they’re never getting across players.

‘I just look at Jesus, he is quite erratic in front of goal. The work ethic of both of them is brilliant, I just question, at that level, can they win the league without another striker?’

Fellow pundit Ian Wright begrudgingly agreed with Neville’s assessment, saying: ‘You can’t question the endeavour of both of these players, Eddie and Jesus, but in the moments I think you look back at the Tottenham game, with the Jesus miss.

‘For a player of his level, his calibre, to get into that position at 1-0 up, you have to [score]. Those chances have to be buried.

And I believe for what Arsenal are trying to do, the margins are so small now, you cannot afford to be missing chances like that and not win those games.

‘And what I’m seeing with Eddie, he’s working his socks off, no chances really made for him. The work off the ball, fantastic, same with Jesus.’

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‘WITHOUT BUKAYO SAKA’: ROY KEANE CHANGES MIND ON ARSENAL & MAKES PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE PREDICTION

Roy Keane has altered his mind about Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal ‘a tiny bit’ after they defeated Manchester City 1-0 on Sunday.

Arsenal defeated Pep Guardiola’s side without key player Bukayo Saka after winning the Community Shield at the start of the season for the first time while Arsene Wenger was in charge.

Manchester City also suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats, raising the question of whether the title battle has now been thrown wide open – Michael Owen certainly believes so.

While Roy Keane was open to revising his views about Arsenal, he made it clear that he is still confident that Manchester City will win the Premier League, as he told The Overlap.

This victory will raise morale at the Emirates, but it will have little impact on the Premier League table because only eight games have been played.

This Manchester City team can go on a ridiculous winning streak in an instant, and knowing that, Keane is sticking to his early-season guns.

 

Roy Keane discusses the Premier League title chase.
“No,” Keane responded when asked if he had changed his mind about staying with Man City at the start of the season. “It’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen Manchester City play.” They are obviously going through a rough patch.

“Bad game. Arsenal fought hard and may have earned it. Cagey. I absolutely wouldn’t dismiss Manchester City. When you look at the two league games last year, Man City was clearly way ahead. Arsenal is definitely making strides.

“However, I wouldn’t change my mind about who I think will win the league because I still believe Manchester City will win.”

On if the weekend result changes his mind on Arsenal: “A little bit. They won the Community Shield.

They won this one. That will only give Arsenal that bit of belief. And they won it without Saka.

All along, they have been saying that Saka is a huge player for them. Man City are missing players.

90+ points will still be needed

Yes, it’s a huge statement from Mikel Arteta’s side that they have finally managed to beat Man City in the league.

But, at the end of the day, you just know when the awards are going to be handed out that Guardiola and his players will be either collecting them or close by.

For Arsenal to win the Premier League title, they probably know that they have to aim for 90+ points because that has been the bar that has been set by the Treble-winners over the years.