^ ^ Gary Lineker makes Man City vs Arsenal prediction for Premier League title decider

Gary Lineker has discussed the Premier League title race (Picture: Getty)

Gary Lineker has changed his Premier League title prediction after Manchester City took advantage of Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth by beating Chelsea.

Arsenal had the chance to open up a 12-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday but slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

Man City took full advantage of their title rivals’ setback, thumping Chelsea 3-0 on Sunday to cut Arsenal’s lead in the title race to just six points.

Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand to pull even closer to Arsenal and a monumental home match against the Gunners next weekend.

England legend Lineker has repeatedly backed Arsenal to become Premier League champions but has changed his mind after a potentially defining weekend in the title race. 

‘They had nothing against Bournemouth, no creativity whatsoever,’ Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast. ‘They didn’t seem to have any belief at all.

Arsenal lost at home to Bournemouth (Picture: Getty)

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‘They weren’t even very good defensively and they’ve pretty much been able to guarantee that this season.

‘It was the first time I thought they might not win the title, particularly following Man City’s performance against Chelsea in the second half when I thought they were absolutely brilliant. 

‘I just thought to myself, for the first time I’m actually not sure Arsenal are going to do it. I’ve been convinced for months but I’m not sure now. Next week’s game is a monster, isn’t it? 

Manchester City thumped Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (Picture: Getty)

‘I’ve been telling everyone I know that Arsenal will be fine and that they’re not going to choke. But they’re stuttering, they’ve lost their form at the moment and we know how important momentum is. 

‘And all the momentum now is with Man City. It’s so tough to call now but if you said you need to put your life on the line, which I’d hate to have to do under these circumstances, I’d probably now go City because I think they will win next week.’

Meanwhile, Gary Neville – who won eight Premier League titles at Manchester United – believes it will be ‘traumatic’ for Arsenal if they miss out on the title once again.

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‘I said a few months ago that Arsenal have to win this title from the position that they’re in and I still believe they have to because it’s a long road back at the end of the season,’ Neville told Sky Sports.

‘If they don’t win it this year, it will really be traumatic. We know the build-up to the game next week, what the narrative is going to be against Arsenal – that Man City are going to catch you, and there seems to be a sense of joy watching Arsenal collapse.

‘They’ve got to try and swim against the tide and hold their nerve. They’ve got a job to do in midweek in the Champions League, which actually might be helpful for them.

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‘If Arsenal had a week to think about this match [against Man City], I don’t think it would help them at all. They can maybe get some confidence through progressing to the Champions League semi-final.

‘But before next Sunday, they’ve got to find a balance of that emotion that you need, which is passion and fight to win a football match, but not becoming too desperate.

‘Arsenal losing on Saturday isn’t because they don’t want it – it’s because they want it too much and their legs have started to get heavy.

‘You’re going for your first title, you start to become consumed, and it’s the mentally emotional drain that means your legs physically appear tired.

‘That’s a bit of what we saw against Bournemouth – the expectation of ‘we’re going to win this match, we’re going to win a title, and we’re desperate to do it’.

‘They’re not saying that themselves, it’s the noise around the club, the emotion in the stadium, the expectation, the fact they’ve not done it in the last two or three years when they’ve been in this position.

‘This is where it gets real. This is the title race now, and they’ve got to somehow clear their minds and get that emotional balance correct.’

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^ ^ Arsenal legend Paul Merson makes Manchester United title prediction

Ex-Arsenal and England winger Paul Merson (Picture: Getty)

Paul Merson has rated Manchester United’s chances of winning the Premier League next season following their impressive revival under Michael Carrick.

Sitting sixth at the time of Ruben Amorim’s sacking in January, United have climbed to third in the Premier League since Carrick’s appointment as caretaker manager.

Manchester United have been one of most in-form teams in Europe since Carrick took over, losing just one of their last ten games.

With the top-five Premier League teams qualifying for next season’s Champions League, United look set to return to Europe’s top club competition.

It has also been suggested that Manchester United could once again challenge for the Premier League title, a trophy they have not won since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

But Merson says United are still ‘not ready’ to ‘fight for the title’, insisting they need to bolster their squad this summer and prove they can be a more competitive force before being regarded as title contenders.

The ex-Arsenal and England winger does expect Manchester United to qualify for the Champions League but has predicted they will drop points against relegation-battlers Leeds United in their next outing on Monday night.

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Man Utd caretaker manager Michael Carrick (Picture: Getty)

The Red Devils have had almost a whole month off since their last game, a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth back on March 20.

‘This is a big rivalry,’ Merson told Sportskeeda. ‘Leeds are playing well at the moment, but they can’t find a goal.

‘I thought they did well against Manchester City, couldn’t score. Same with the Sunderland game as well.

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‘If you look at the fixtures, Manchester United should have enough to qualify for the Champions League next season. But this is still a difficult game.

‘If Chelsea beat Manchester City and United drew with Leeds, a win for the Blues in the match against them next weekend would mean they are just two points ahead of Rosenior’s team! That’s how tight it is.

‘I don’t think Manchester United are ready to fight for the title next season. They need a few more players to come in. I don’t see them being competitive over 38 games with the same team.

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‘Manchester United’s focus should only be on getting back in the Champions League. If they can stay in that competition, it gives them good money to build their squad

‘Now we’re used to seeing them play just once a week, but that isn’t where this club belongs and they need to get back up there quick.

‘I have a feeling Leeds will get a point here, I’ll go with a 1-1 draw.’

Despite Manchester United’s impressive revival under Carrick, Old Trafford bosses are yet to decide on their next permanent manager.

United’s Amad Diallo recently backed Carrick for the role, saying: ‘From a personal view he’s the right man. He has a lot of experience; he knows the club and has the DNA.

‘His relationship with every player is very good. Sometimes this kind of manager can bring the club where they belong.

‘It’s not the players who decide but my honest opinion is we’re really happy to have Michael Carrick as a manager.’

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^ ^ Danny Murphy responds to Viktor Gyokeres excuse and reveals huge Arsenal mistake

Viktor Gyokeres claimed Arsenal’s pitch was too dry against Bournemouth (Picture: Getty)

Danny Murphy accused Arsenal of failing to display an ability to think on their feet during Saturday’s damaging Premier League defeat against Bournemouth.

The Gunners suffered a third defeat in four games in all competitions and have seen their status as champions-elect diminished.

Bournemouth fully merited their second successive win at Emirates Stadium having controlled much of the game and capitalised on a catalogue of errors made by Mikel Arteta’s jittery side.

The Cherries did survive a late flurry of chances spurned by Viktor Gyokeres, after which the Sweden international striker blamed his team’s lack of fluency on a dry pitch.

That excuse has attracted widespread criticism and although Match of the Day pundit Murphy declined the opportunity to add his name to the growing chorus of derision he argued, were the playing conditions an issue, Arsenal should have been capable of showing enough nous to adapt.

He said: ‘Funnily enough, even it the pitch was dry I don’t think they played enough long balls.

‘Bournemouth pressed them high and went man for man at the back. You’ve got Martinelli and Madueke who started the game I didn’t see them hit any long balls, play some percentages and try and spin them around.

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‘So if the pitch is dry, you’ve got international players make some different decisions.’

Alex Scott scored Bournemouth’s winner against Arsenal (Picture: Getty)

Arteta, meanwhile, described this latest setback which blows the Premier League title door wide open to Manchester City, as a ‘big punch in the face’.

Arsenal’s sobering loss – their third in a row domestically – inside a nerve-fuelled Emirates Stadium provides City with the chance to reduce the Gunners’ nine-point lead to six when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

‘It’s a big punch in the face, and extremely disappointing,’ said Arteta. “That’s what I said to the boys.

‘There are no grey areas. Today there were some very basic things that we did extremely badly. When you do that, they’re going to capitalise, and it becomes very chaotic and very difficult to control.

Mikel Arteta’s side were booed off against Arsenal (Picture: Getty)

‘We have to look at ourselves. We have to suffer. It’s painful. It’s a terrible feeling. But tomorrow is a different day. And if somebody would have said to me in August, we are in this position right now in April, I’m sure we would all have taken it.’

Arsenal have finished runners-up for the past three seasons, and their latest defeat not only hands the championship momentum to City, but again raises serious questions about their title-winning mentality.

The two rivals meet at the Etihad Stadium next Sunday, and should Pep Guardiola’s side triumph in that match, see off Chelsea on Sunday, and also beat Burnley on April 22 they would be level on points with the Gunners with five games remaining.

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But Arteta, who was without Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori through injury on Saturday, said: ‘We can’t control that. What we can control is our performances over the last nine months.

‘Anything that is said when you have a defeat at home, you have to accept that. There are no excuses. It’s about how we’re going to stand up, first of all, individually, and then as a team to change that immediately on Wednesday (against Sporting in the second leg).

‘So, we need everything. We need everybody fit and available. The ones that were not involved today are really big, important players, and we need them immediately with us because then we’re going to be much stronger.

‘And then the other ones, they need to stand up. Me, being the first one, and embrace this challenge and go for it.’

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