‘THERE’S A PROBLEM’: Gary Neville thinks Arsenal have ‘really important’ problem to solve this week
Gary Neville has urged Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to stop conceding goals if they want to win the Premier League title ahead of Manchester City.
The Gunners faced a somewhat testing week.
A controversial draw at home to Brentford was hardly ideal after losing 1-0 to Everton. Losing 3-1 to Manchester City in midweek left the title race wide open.
An away trip to Aston Villa felt like a tricky game, especially against former Arsenal boss Unai Emery.
Arsenal twice fell behind as Ollie Watkins put Villa 1-0 up before Philippe Coutinho restored their lead at 2-1.
Arsenal had to dig deep in the second half and did just that, turning the game on its head after Oleksandr Zinchenko’s leveller.
An Emiliano Martinez own goal and a late Gabriel Martinelli strike won it for Arsenal, securing a 4-2 victory at Villa Park.
Add in that City only drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest and this was a positive weekend for Arsenal – one that was much needed.
GARY NEVILLE SPOTS DEFENSIVE ISSUE FOR ARSENAL
Before the World Cup break, Arsenal conceded one goal in five games, racking up four clean sheets.
The Gunners have started to leak a few goals though now and Gary Neville has offered a word of caution.
Neville has told The Gary Neville Podcast that he thinks Arsenal need to stop conceding goals if they have real hope of winning the title.
Neville noted that Arsenal have conceded 10 goals in their last six games – it’s actually nine in the last six but we will let him off!
The former Manchester United ace believed it’s ‘very difficult’ to win a league when other teams think they can score against you.
Neville wants Arsenal to think about their defending this week and ultimately get back to keeping clean sheets in the coming games.
“They’ve conceded 10 goals in the last six games,” said Neville. “I would say they need to stop conceding goals because one of the traits on a run-in is, if you’re conceding goals and teams feel like they have a chance, it’s very difficult to win a league, so they just need to watch that. If they can just think about, in this next week or this next period, getting back to clean sheets – it’s really important,” he added.
