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Gary Neville and Ian Wright had different predictions for both of this weekend's games in the Premier League that involve the current top four.
First-placed Arsenal travels to fourth-placed Sunderland on Saturday, before third-placed Liverpool travels to second-placed Manchester City on Sunday. Neville backed Liverpool to claim a narrow win away to City, while also predicting Sunderland to claim what would be a surprise draw against Arsenal. Liverpool goes into Sunday's game off the back of back-to-back wins against Aston Villa and Real Madrid.
"They’re awkward Sunderland, aren’t they? I’ll go with 1-1," Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast. "I don’t really know why I’ve done that – I fancy Arsenal but Sunderland are tough there."
If those results were to happen, Liverpool would end the weekend just five points off Arsenal in the standings.
Contrastingly, Wright expects Arsenal to win and Liverpool to lose, which would stretch the gap between the two sides to 10 points.
"A draw would be a good result for Arsenal but I think Man City will beat Liverpool," Wright said. "I just look at Liverpool’s defense this season and the way Erling Haaland is blasting past teams."
Despite saying a draw at Sunderland would be a good result for Arsenal, Wright confirmed he expects the Gunners to win. "We’re playing well. I’m going 2-0 Arsenal."
Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola revealed that he spent Tuesday evening watching Liverpool's win over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Guardiola said that he was surprised by Liverpool's recent run of bad form, which saw the Reds succumb to six losses in the space of seven games in all competitions.
But the team appears to be back on track now after back-to-back wins and back-to-back clean sheets over Aston Villa and Real Madrid at Anfield over the last few days.
Guardiola is looking forward to pitting his wits against Arne Slot once against after City lost both games against Liverpool last season.
"Of course it surprised me a lot that they lost a lot of games but sometimes it's about momentum," Guardiola stated. "All the clubs are there except Arsenal who are more consistent than anyone.
"But the season is long so we try to be there and see what happens. To be honest I'm so excited and happy to prepare for Sunday. I'm desperate to play against Liverpool and we'll see what happens."
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