Arsenal closed the gap on Liverpool to just two points after beating Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Mikel Arteta has collected a lot of criticism this season, but against Newcastle, the Spaniard’s approach could not be questioned.
After Arsenal’s draw against Manchester City, Gary Neville called the Gunners a ‘one-trick pony’, wondering why Arteta’s side had yet to take the handbrake off.
Arteta responded to the handbrake criticism in his pre-match press conference, and at St James’ Park, the Arsenal manager put his words into action.
Photo by George Wood/Getty ImagesGary Neville says Arsenal have put pressure on Liverpool after Newcastle United win
The Premier League title race is already taking shape, despite only six games being played so far.
Arsenal knew the stakes at St James’ Park were even higher than usual after Liverpool lost to Crystal Palace.
The league leaders dropped points, and with pressure on, Arsenal reduced Liverpool’s lead at the top, something Neville believes sent a real message to Arne Slot’s side.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit suspected that the Gunners woke Liverpool up on matchday six.
“Arsenal haven’t won the title today, Liverpool didn’t lose the title yesterday, but what I think Liverpool realised tonight is that they’re probably going to be in with a bigger fight than maybe they thought,” Neville said.
“Maybe they thought they were in with the battle anyway, that they weren’t going to have it easy. But there’s something in that Liverpool sort of mentality tonight as they go to bed that’ll be thinking.”
Neville then drew attention to what Arsenal’s title rivals might be thinking of the squad depth Arteta has.
“You know, they started the game with Saka, they started the game with Gyokeres, they started the game with Eze, they started the game with Trossard, but then Merino comes on, Odegaard comes on, Martinelli comes on, Madueke is not even fit yet. So they’ve got some real options.”
Arsenal’s win over Newcastle meant a lot more than just three points, as Neville stressed in his post-match assessment.
“I think they’re [Liverpool] going to be in a hell of a race with Arsenal this year,” Neville said.
“I think today has cemented it for me. I think we needed to see that from Arsenal in context of what Liverpool did yesterday [vs Palace].”
Mikel Arteta saw Arsenal’s chance to close the gap on Liverpool
Liverpool had won five in five before facing Palace, but the champions’ form was by no means convincing.
The Reds’ performance against Palace showed the cracks that are there for Slot and that are there for Arteta to exploit.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta commented on how Liverpool’s defeat drove Arsenal to reach the level they did at St James’ Park.
“There are moments in the season, and obviously with the start that we had already and the difficult fixtures that we had, today we had the opportunity to close that gap and do it in a stadium that has a very recent and difficult past for us. I think it shows how much the team wants it.”
Arsenal have silenced their doubters by winning at St James’ Park, but the victory must be used as the benchmark for the remainder of the campaign if the title is to be won.