Gary Neville has wasted little time making a bold Premier League prediction, declaring that Arsenal should win the title comfortably after the opening weekend.
The Sky Sports pundit believes Manchester City and Liverpool are currently nowhere near the levels required to mount a serious championship challenge, with both clubs facing significant changes ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
Arsenal, meanwhile, made the perfect start to their title defence by brushing aside newly promoted Coventry City 3-0.
That performance has convinced Neville that Mikel Arteta’s side are already ahead of their biggest rivals.
Manchester City began the new era under Enzo Maresca with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Bournemouth, needing a late Josko Gvardiol goal to secure all three points.
Liverpool were also forced to fight until the final moments before drawing 2-2 with Newcastle United in Andoni Iraola’s first Premier League match.
For Neville, those results underline his concerns about both clubs.
“Last week when we were previewing the season, all I kept thinking about was that this is going to be the most unpredictable season,” he said speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“It’s going to be intriguing because you’ve got new managers, you’ve got lots of new players, you’ve got so much change at the top.
“Arsenal should win this league by a street – and I don’t sit here on Sunday evening thinking anything differently, we’ve seen Tottenham get beat, we’ve seen Manchester United get beat, we’ve seen Liverpool nearly get beat, we’ve seen City scrambling for a win at home, so everything we thought we would see, we’re seeing.”
The unpredictable nature of teams at the top, probably not being good enough to go and basically do what they did last season and the season before and getting beat by teams that are well organised like Brentford and Hull and others.
Neville’s assessment of Liverpool was particularly blunt.
The former Manchester United defender believes the reigning champions are still searching for the consistency and quality that previously made them Premier League contenders.
“Man City are the same as Liverpool, these two clubs were getting nearly 100 points, six, seven years ago.
“Treble winners, four times Premier League winners, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, Arne Slot’s champions, that’s just happened and so we’re measuring these two clubs by the standards that they’ve set, but they’re nowhere near that standard.
“This Liverpool team are nowhere near the levels of a Premier League title winning team – they need a lot of work.
“I think they’ll be happy with the point [vs Newcastle], a good finish for them, and they’re celebrating, but I think deep down when you’re measuring yourself and the standards that Liverpool have in the last five, 10 years of winning titles, I think they’ll travel home, back to Liverpool and back to Merseyside, and they’ll be thinking, we’ve got a lot of work to do.
“And Man City, they’re well below where they need to be. Losing Rodri is a massive blow.”
While Neville has placed Arsenal firmly at the top of his prediction, he sees Chelsea as the most likely team to push Arteta’s men.
Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea begin their league campaign against Fulham on Monday night, and Neville believes their squad depth, managerial stability and lack of European football could prove decisive.
“Arsenal are going to be feeling really confident right now.
“It’s the most sure I’ve ever been, and look it could be that I’ve got egg on my face at the end of the season, [but] it’s the most sure I’ve ever been after game one that we’re going to see a team be Premier League champions.
“Chelsea will finish second, unless I see them play really badly at Fulham, so I do reserve the right to change my opinion. I do think Chelsea will finish second because of the squad and because of the fact they haven’t got European competition.
“They haven’t got the confusion, they’ve got a good manager, so I do think Chelsea have got a great chance to push Arsenal this year and finish second and be the team and let’s see on Monday night.”
It is, of course, only one match into a 38-game Premier League season. Injuries, transfers, fixture congestion and momentum can dramatically change the title picture.
But Arsenal’s emphatic opening victory has given Neville enough evidence to make his early call.
With Liverpool rebuilding under Iraola, City adapting to life after Guardiola and the loss of Rodri, Neville believes Arsenal have the clearest path to the trophy.
His prediction is bold. His message is even clearer: Arsenal are already setting the pace.
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