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Topics: Fan Reactions, Gary Neville, Premier League, Manchester City, Arsenal
Lewis Browning
Topics: Fan Reactions, Gary Neville, Premier League, Manchester City, Arsenal
Gary Neville has been praised for a bold Manchester City prediction made earlier on in the season.
City won their third Premier League title in a row on Saturday when second-placed Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest and went on to lift the trophy at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday following their win over Chelsea.
Arsenal had topped the league table for a total of 248 days but near-relegation form towards the back end of the campaign and a relentless chase from City meant Pep Guardiola's side were crowned champions again.
Neville predicted the outcome months ago and was criticised but he's now been proven right.
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"City will win that league by 10 points," Neville said on The Overlap in the build-up to the side's 4-1 win over Arsenal in April.
"They'll be two points behind you, they'll do you at the Etihad. Honestly, seriously."
The former Manchester United defender was criticised in the studio but continued to back up his point.
"No, what you don't recognise is that honestly towards the end of the season in the last five games when they go in front of you, if they did go in front of you, and all of a sudden you'd lose two games and they'll win and end up seven or eight, you'll just end up further away. I've seen this a lot. Honestly, if City get in front of you with five to 10 games to go they could win it by 10 points."
A month on, the final gap could be up to 13 points, with City currently seven clear with two games to play, against Brighton and Brentford. Arsenal, meanwhile, have one game left, at home to Wolves.
"Gary Neville saw the future," said one fan on Twitter, eager to back up Neville for his much-criticised claim.
'I hate Gary Neville but of course an eight-time Premier League winner knows what it takes to win the league," said another.
Others, however, thought the call was obvious.
"Only people who didn’t see this coming were Arsenal fans," said one user.
"Only Arsenal fans ever thought they MAY win it. Always been a team of bottlers and Man City are just too strong to hold back when chasing," added another.
Maybe next year.