Manchester United icon Gary Neville has now had his say on where Arsenal stand in the title race following their loss against Aston Villa.
Arsenal are no longer in command when it comes to the Premier League title race.
The Gunners surrendered control of their own destiny when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Manchester City are now two points clear of the North London club at the top of the Premier League table with six games left to play.
Paul Merson is now convinced that Arsenal’s title dream is dead and buried. However, whilst the odds are now stacked against Mikel Arteta’s men, the manager will still believe that his side can deliver the club’s first title triumph in twenty years this season.
After the final whistle on Sunday, Arteta sent a clear message to his Arsenal squad in the dressing room. Now is the time for them to stand up and be counted. There is no doubt that they have the talent and quality to win their remaining games this season and take the title race to the wire at the very least, but they must now show that they have the mental strength and character to do that.
Arsenal need to put the Aston Villa loss behind them. All that matters now is what they do next.
Gary Neville urges ‘trust’ in Arsenal
That is certainly the view held by Gary Neville. On The Gary Neville Podcast, the former full-back was asked if Arsenal can recover from this setback. The pundit said, “you have to trust them. You have to, I think. They have to call upon last season’s experience. They weren’t in the Champions League last season, but they were in this position, where they got beat in games where they thought they would win. Where they dropped points that people didn’t think they would.”
“Now it’s about how they get back on the bike, because they’re not out of the title race. It’s going to be tough, because Manchester City and what they are, but it’s how they recover. You can finish second to this Manchester City team, it’s how you finish second…they’ve got to make sure they do it in a better way [than last season]…They’ve got to prove that to themselves.”
How Arsenal must respond to Aston Villa loss
Arsenal will have an opportunity to bounce back from this loss on Wednesday night, when they will travel to Germany to contest the second-leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich.
The German giants will be smarting from having lost out on the Bundesliga title to Granit Xhaka’s Bayer Leverkusen this weekend. Arsenal will certainly have to be at their best to get the win they need at the Allianz Arena, with the tie currently delicately poised at 2-2 on aggregate after the first-leg. If they can do it, though, then securing progress to semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition would provide a timely boost.
In the context of the Premier League, the task facing Arsenal now is simple, albeit not easy. They need to win, and keep winning, all the way to the bitter end, whilst hoping for a Manchester City slip along the way.