Gary Neville has predicted Arsenal will beat Chelsea 2-0 in Sunday's Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium, calling the match a 'really good test' for Xabi Alonso's side.
The defending champions welcome Chelsea, who have made a perfect start under new boss Alonso, with both teams aiming to maintain their unbeaten records. Arsenal opened their title defence with a 3-0 win over Coventry City before beating Aston Villa 1-0 thanks to Bukayo Saka's goal. Chelsea beat Fulham 3-2 in Alonso's first competitive game and followed it with a 4-3 victory over Brighton.
Neville's verdict on the title race
Neville, speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, backed Chelsea to finish second behind Arsenal based on their early form. He said the London derby 'will show us where both teams are' and expects Arsenal to edge a 'really good game'.
'I think Arsenal will realise Chelsea have better attacking players than Aston Villa so they'll have to be alert and alive,' Neville said. 'But I think Villa are the most organised team in the league except for Arsenal, I think they're really well organised and so well drilled by Unai Emery. Chelsea aren't as well organised as that and they aren't as disciplined.'
Score prediction and European hopes
Revealing his scoreline prediction on The Overlap, Neville added: 'We'll go 2-0 to Arsenal. I think Arsenal are going to be so up for it and strong, they are going to be really aggressive.'
Arsenal won their first Premier League title since 2004 last season and reached the Champions League final, where they lost to PSG on penalties. With Mikel Arteta adding Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis and Ezri Konsa this summer, Neville believes the squad is stronger but still lacks a 'star striker'.
'They can definitely have a go in Europe because they did last season and this is a better squad,' the eight-time Premier League winner said. 'Not having that player might be a problem for them but they're more than capable of challenging for both the Premier League and Champions League because that's what they did last year. But I think they needed that star striker, that would have been the final piece of the jigsaw. Whether they can do it without that player is debatable.'
