Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Gary Neville believes Mikel Arteta will be afforded the luxury of ‘relaxing’ as he watches Liverpool and Man City clash on Sunday following his own side’s thrashing of West Ham.
The Gunners ripped West Ham apart with four goals in the first 36 minutes at the London Stadium on Saturday.
Arsenal star has KDB & Thierry Henry record in his sights after stunning first half vs West Ham!
West Ham then hit back with two quick goals of their own, only to see Bukayo Saka convert a penalty to make it 5-2 at half-time, completing a stunning first half of attacking fluidity from Arsenal.
Saturday’s result puts the Gunners back in second place in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s meeting with defending champions Man City at Anfield.
While Arsenal are looking up the table, City are only a point behind and will go second with a win, so Sunday’s meeting has plenty of implications for the North Londoners.
Mikel Arteta can ‘sit back and relax’
Of course, Arsenal have no control over matters elsewhere and Neville believes Arteta will simply ‘sit back and relax’ to watch Sunday’s showdown, satisfied with the performance of his own team.
“It is a really good night for Arsenal, who were outstanding for the first half an hour,” Neville reflected for Sky Sports.
The former Man Utd defender continued: “It comes with a little ‘but’ in the encouragement they gave West Ham in conceding those two goals.
“But Arteta will be happy and he can now sit back and relax and watch Liverpool and Man City tomorrow, the other two teams who genuinely have a chance of winning the title, and see where they are up to.”