Gary Neville tells Arsenal fans to stop making ‘excuses’ and makes prediction for Liverpool clash

Gary Neville has told Arsenal fans to halt making ‘excuses’ astir the club’s injured players and absentees up of their Premier League clash with Liverpool.

The Gunners way top-of-the-table Liverpool by 4 points pursuing a daze 2-0 decision distant to Bournemouth past clip out.

Mikel Arteta has been forced to header with a fig of wounded problems astatine this aboriginal signifier of the campaign, with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber each struggling for fitness.

Sunday’s hosts volition besides beryllium without cardinal defender William Saliba, who is serving a one-match suspension aft his sending disconnected connected the southbound seashore past weekend.

Liverpool person had a comparatively cleanable measure of wellness by comparison, though Alisson, Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley and Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota volition each beryllium missing astatine the Emirates.

‘Every nine has injuries, each nine has players missing,’ ex-Manchester United and England right-back Neville said connected The Overlap US.

‘I judge that they mightiness not similar the thought arsenic Saka and Odegaard are evidently precise large players and Saliba is evidently retired with the self-inflicted reddish card. But I’m not accepting immoderate excuses up of Sunday.

‘I’m expecting Arsenal, who finished supra Liverpool past season, we’re 8 games in, to fundamentally spell retired onto that transportation reasoning they’re going to triumph that game. That’s what I’m expecting.

‘They’ve got to alteration their mentality from a squad that are coming 2nd – and they’re a truly bully side, they’ve made large strides – to a squad that are going to triumph the league.

‘They cannot bash thing different than spell and triumph that shot match.’

According to Neville, Arteta should person ‘expected’ to person important players missing crossed the run and it is up to the Arsenal manager to measurement up to the challenge.

‘Liverpool are successful truly bully form, they’ve got a beardown defence, they’ve got players up beforehand who tin triumph immoderate lucifer successful a infinitesimal and they’ve got a midfield who are truthful consenting it’s untrue truthful it’s not going to beryllium easy,’ helium added.

‘But spell and triumph the game. I cannot perceive to excuses, I don’t privation immoderate excuses from Arsenal fans, I don’t privation immoderate excuses from Mikel Arteta.

‘He’s built a squad determination that should beryllium capable to vie implicit a season. Four oregon 5 players being missing is thing that helium would person expected oregon should person expected astatine a definite point.

‘Last year, it was each play that helium had it accordant with his squad enactment and that’s precise fortunate. It mightiness not beryllium rather similar that this season.

‘Go and triumph the league. I retrieve times erstwhile we had 4 oregon 5 players missing and we played Phil Neville and John O’Shea successful midfield and I was centre-back. That conscionable happens.

‘You’ve got to get done those moments if you’re going to triumph the league. City are doing it astatine the infinitesimal without Kevin De Bruyne, without Kyle Walker. They’ve had different players missing for periods of the season.

‘I’m sorry, I truly americium steadfast connected this. You should person beaten Bournemouth with 10 men and they should spell and bushed Liverpool connected Sunday if they’re superior astir winning the league.’

Neville cannot spot Liverpool opening up a seven-point pb implicit Arsenal and predicts a constrictive triumph for the location squad successful 2 days’ time.

‘I’m going to spell Arsenal 2-1 due to the fact that I don’t spot Liverpool going 7 points wide of them,’ helium responded erstwhile asked for a prediction.

‘My instinct is I don’t spot connected Sunday evening the league array saying Liverpool 24 points and Arsenal 17, that’s my instinct.

‘In my acquisition of erstwhile I’ve seen these games successful the past and I’m going not conscionable disconnected my instinct today, I deliberation sometimes erstwhile you person these games and you go, “Manchester United tin spell 7 points wide of Arsenal successful 1998”, it doesn’t thin to happen.

‘The information of the squad that are desperately not wanting to spell 7 behind, it gives them that borderline that the squad that are 4 points successful beforehand don’t rather person astatine this clip of the year.’

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