Gary Neville: Liverpool and Man City Not at Title-Winning Level; Arsenal Primed to Dominate

According to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, Liverpool and Manchester City are currently performing well below the level needed to compete for the Premier League title this season.

Manchester City are facing a new era following the departure of Pep Guardiola, while Liverpool are undergoing a rebuilding phase under Andoni Iraola.

In their opening fixtures, Manchester City secured a late 2-1 victory against Bournemouth thanks to a Josko Gvardiol winner on Enzo Maresca's Premier League debut. Liverpool, meanwhile, salvaged a 2-2 draw with Newcastle after a late comeback.

In stark contrast, Arsenal's season started much more smoothly, with a comfortable 3-0 win over Coventry City. Even with 37 games remaining, the Gunners are now considered the favorites by bookmakers to lift the Premier League trophy.

Neville finds it difficult to envision either Manchester City or Liverpool mounting a serious title challenge this season.

Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, he commented: "Last week when we were previewing the season, all I kept thinking about was that this is going to be the most unpredictable season. It's going to be intriguing because you've got new managers, you've got lots of new players, you've got so much change at the top."

"Arsenal should win this league by a street - and I don't sit here on Sunday evening thinking anything differently. We've seen Tottenham get beat, we've seen Manchester United get beat, we've seen Liverpool nearly get beat, we've seen City scrambling for a win at home, so everything we thought we would see, we're seeing. The unpredictable nature of teams at the top, probably not being good enough to go and basically do what they did last season and the season before and getting beat by teams that are well organised like Brentford and Hull and others."

"Manchester City are the same as Liverpool; these two clubs were getting nearly 100 points six or seven years ago. Treble winners, four-time Premier League winners, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, Arne Slot's champions, that's just happened, and so we're measuring these two clubs by the standards that they've set, but they're nowhere near that standard."

"This Liverpool team is nowhere near the levels of a Premier League title-winning team – they need a lot of work."

"I think they'll be happy with the point [against Newcastle], a good finish for them, and they're celebrating, but I think deep down when you're measuring yourself and the standards that Liverpool have set in the last five to ten years of winning titles, I think they'll travel home, back to Liverpool and back to Merseyside, and they'll be thinking, we've got a lot of work to do."

"And Manchester City, they're well below where they need to be. Losing Rodri is a massive blow."

Neville 'So Sure' Arsenal Will Win the Premier League

With both City and Liverpool trailing, Neville suggested that Chelsea could emerge as Arsenal's closest title rivals.

Xabi Alonso's side kicks off their campaign on Monday Night Football against Fulham, where Neville will join Jamie Carragher to present his season predictions.

Neville added: "Arsenal are going to be feeling really confident right now."

"It's the most sure I've ever been, and look, it could be that I've got egg on my face at the end of the season, [but] it's the most sure I've ever been after game one that we're going to see a team be Premier League champions."

"Chelsea will finish second, unless I see them play really badly at Fulham, so I do reserve the right to change my opinion. I do think Chelsea will finish second because of the squad and because of the fact they haven't got European competition."

"They haven't got the confusion, they've got a good manager, so I do think Chelsea have got a great chance to push Arsenal this year and finish second and be the team, and let's see on Monday night."