Gary Neville has insisted Arsenal could win the title instead of Premier League leaders Liverpool if one thing were to happen.
Neville, 49, was speaking on Sky Sports after witnessing Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
The result saw United stay in 14th place in the league, just seven points off the relegation zone.
But Neville turned his attention to the title race with United set to face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Arne Slot’s side are currently eight points clear of second place Nottingham Forest at the summit of the top flight.
Still, Neville believes Arsenal, who sit third, trailing Liverpool by nine points, are the biggest threat to the Merseyside club clinching their 20th Premier League crown.
“Liverpool are massive favourites, and they’re in great form, but there is still a long way to go,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“Arsenal have been through the mill the last couple of years. They’ve sort of gone to the wire, and sometimes when you win the first time, it doesn’t happen in the most expected way, things can happen.”
The former United skipper was then asked what could possibly derail the Reds’ title charge.
“[Virgil] van Dijk,” Neville replied.
“That’s the thing that sticks out for me. That [if] Van Dijk got injured it would be a completely different story.
“That six points [behind] that Arsenal can go to in a couple of days time would dwindle away quite quickly [without Van Dijk]. He’s such an immense player for [Liverpool].”
Of course, Van Dijk, 33, is arguably one of Liverpool’s most important players, having featured in all 18 Premier League fixtures so far this term.
And despite the uncertainty surrounding his future off the pitch, with his contract set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season, he has been in top form since the arrival of Slot in the summer of 2024.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah are also out of contract at the end of the season, with the former being heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid while Salah revealed that he is “far away” from agreeing a new deal when speaking after Liverpool’s 5-0 win against West Ham on Sunday.