15 November 2023 , 12:11
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Gary Neville still feels Arsenal are capable of winning the Premier League this season, despite having reservations over their options in attack
Arsenal go into the international break one point behind league leaders Manchester City, having finished five points behind the champions last term. They closed the gap over the weekend, beating Burnley at home before City dropped points at Chelsea on Sunday.
The Gunners' last win came despite neither Gabriel Jesus nor Eddie Nketiah being fit to start. Former Manchester United captain Neville still feels Mikel Arteta's side need to upgrade in attack, even without their senior duo, but considers them to be very much in the mix.
“I think that Arsenal can win the league this season," Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.. "Despite starting slow, the football will come, the football that we saw from them last season.
"The fact that they’ve started a little bit slower, I never think is a bad thing, they’re sat there in the pack behind [top]. My worry with Arsenal is a centre-forward, I like [Gabriel] Jesus and [Eddie] Nketiah but for me they are a number two and three, they need a number one.
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"But I do think that when the football comes, and it could come after Christmas at March which is the right time, they could be the opposite of last season – a bit of a slow start and stronger finish,” Neville added. However, his one-time United team-mate Roy Keane is still backing City to retain their title.
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Leandro Trossard started up front and scored as Arsenal beat Burnley (Nigel Keene/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)“The standard of the Premier League hasn’t been great the past couple of months, some of the goals were watching at weekends is so poor, a lack of quality," Keane said. "Manchester City are excellent, there’s no doubt about it, but the other teams need to sort themselves out. I still can’t see beyond Manchester City.”
Just three points separate the top five teams in the league after 12 games. CIty sit top by a point, just ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal, with Spurs and Aston Villa just behind them.
Leandro Trossard led the line against Burnley, scoring Arsenal's opener, and manager Arteta praised the Belgian for his chemistry with the rest of the team. "I think that he connects everybody, you know," Arteta said.
"He’s so intelligent. He moves in the spaces in ways that attract people and generates spaces and options for people and today he has done it really well because it was very difficult as the spaces were so small to attack and he gave us a lot of threat and possibilities to connect and find spaces for us."