Gary Neville has told Arsenal fans to stop making ‘excuses’ about the club’s injured players and absentees ahead of their Premier League clash with Liverpool.
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Arsenal trail top-of-the-table Liverpool by four points following a shock 2-0 defeat away to Bournemouth last time out.
Mikel Arteta has had to cope with a number of injury problems early in the campaign, with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Jurrien Timber all struggling for fitness.
Central defender William Saliba will also miss the match due to a one-match suspension after being sent off against Bournemouth.
In contrast, Liverpool has had a relatively clean bill of health, although Alisson, Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley, and summer signing Federico Chiesa will be absent for the trip to the Emirates.
‘Every club has injuries, every club has players missing,’ said Neville on The Overlap US. ‘I accept that they might not like the idea as Saka and Odegaard are obviously very big players and Saliba is out with a self-inflicted red card. But I’m not accepting any excuses ahead of Sunday.’
Neville expects Arsenal to approach the match with confidence, having finished above Liverpool last season.
He emphasized that they need to shift their mindset to that of a team aiming to win the league. ‘They cannot do anything other than go and win that football match,’ he stated.
The former Manchester United defender also stressed that Arteta should have anticipated injuries and that it’s up to the manager to rise to the occasion.
‘Liverpool are in really good form, they’ve got a strong defence, and it’s not going to be easy,’ he noted.
Neville predicts a narrow win for Arsenal, stating, ‘I’m going to go Arsenal 2-1 because I don’t see Liverpool going seven points clear of them.’ He believes the motivation to avoid falling further behind will give Arsenal the edge in this critical encounter.