7 hours ago
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Mikel Arteta became the target of Jamie Carragher's wit as the pundit clashed with Gary Neville over their Premier League predictions.
The Sky Sports pair appeared on the broadcaster's YouTube channel to assess their previous Premier League winner forecasts from recent campaigns. Whilst Neville insisted he was leading in their prediction contest, the former Liverpool defender responded with an amusing nod to Arteta's remarks from the beginning of the season.
When asked about narrowing the gap on his former rival, Carragher declared: "But I've actually got more points over that time, and have you heard Mikel Arteta of late? Mikel Arteta is right.
"He's got more points than anyone over the last three seasons. And I've got more points over him over the last five seasons."
The ex-Liverpool center-back's jibe referenced comments made by the Arsenal boss during a press conference ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
The Spanish tactician stated at the time: "Yeah, you keep digging, digging, digging and you have to be digging because one day the gold is going to be there.
"That's all the time. When I've been taught, when I've been educated and that's it. For three seasons we've had more points than any other team in this league, which is incredible. That's how you have all the consistency.
"Now we have to do it in a season to have one more point or the same amount of points and more goals different than any other team. That's the objective."
Whilst Arteta's comments regarding the points tally are amusing and rather odd, they're not entirely precise either. Despite Arsenal finishing above Manchester City last season, Pep Guardiola's team have still accumulated the highest points total over the past three league seasons, reaching 251.
Arsenal, sitting in second position, have gathered 247 points across the last three campaigns, while Liverpool have secured 233. During the same conversation about the Premier League title race, Neville backed the Gunners once again this term, convinced the club will eventually "get it over the line."
Neville commented: "I've got to stick with Arsenal because I've felt they were going to win it for the last three years. I felt they're going to get it over the line, and it would be wrong of me to change now and I can't split the three of them to be fair."
Carragher stayed faithful to his former side, who finished 10 points ahead of Arsenal last season, though he expressed some reservations about their campaign's start. He remarked: "I'm going to go for Liverpool but I do think I agree with you in that I think all three of them - anything could happen.
"I was a little bit unnerved by what I saw from Liverpool in the first game and there might be a case of, I think there's got to be a little bit of rejigging going on in terms of how we set the team up. It's still early days and you obviously back [Arne] Slot to find a way to make that work."
Arteta is optimistic that his team can finally overcome their bad luck and clinch the much-coveted title. Discussing the vibe at the Emirates Stadium, he said: "The mood of the place, the energy around it, the enthusiasm that the boys, the staff came with from day one, now we're going to do better, to keep improving as a team and to win. That's what drives my energy and that's why I'm so excited."
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