Gary Neville has revealed he thought Arsenal would get "battered" before the players even left the tunnel ahead of the Gunners' blockbuster trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side travelled to Etihad Stadium in search of their first victory in four matches and it was a chance for the Gunners to renew some belief in their Premier League title push. However, City were by far the dominant side from the outset and showed why they have won four titles in the last five years.
And Neville feels Arsenal should have set up differently to try and counter their recent run of conceding goals.. He told The Overlap after the match: "I think coming to Manchester City in a game like this, I think it warranted potentially looking at the game differently. If you're conceding goals against Southampton, Bournemouth, and West Ham, you're definitely going to concede goals against Manchester City."
Neville then revealed he had the same discussion with Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher just ahead of kick-off before City went out and wiped the floor with their opponents. "We have a group don't we [him and Carragher], a group chat and honestly I saw them in the tunnel and I said: 'Arsenal are going to have to do very well here not to concede four.'
"Literally in the tunnel, you just thought, they're going to get absolutely battered, I didn't think that really a week ago or a few days ago, I thought it would be tight."
It took just seven minutes for Kevin De Bruyne to give City the lead with a sublime finish from the edge of the box, before the Belgian turned provider for their second moments before the interval when John Stones headed home De Bruyne's cross.
De Bruyne completing his brace early in the second half before Erling Haaland rounded off the scoring after Rob Holding's consolation goal in a thumping 4-1 win. Guardiola was pleased with his side's work on the night as they closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to two points whilst also holding two games in hand.
"It was an important game, not decisive but important,' Guardiola said. "We played very good. I know the opponent we played. They're still top, I know it sounds naïve what I'm saying but we are still behind. We are still there."
"Absolutely (I prefer) my position because now it's in our hands," he continued. "I would love that these two games are six points but you have to win them, but I prefer it because it depends on us. Until today, I prefer the position in the Premier League of Arsenal because if Arsenal had beaten us it's in their hands. But now it is in our hands."
City are next in action when they take on Fulham on Sunday - and a win will see them leapfrog Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title. Arteta's men do not play until Tuesday when they host Chelsea.
