Neville worried that Man Utd would lose to Arsenal
"Arsenal is expected to win the Premier League. It is a huge challenge for Man Utd," Neville said on August 28 on Sky Sports. "Man Utd's performance so far has been below average. And if you play below average at the Emirates, you lose. Man Utd must immediately improve."
In the opening match of the Premier League at Old Trafford, Man Utd beat Wolves 1-0 thanks to Raphael Varane's close-range header. But Wolves played better than this match, finishing 23 times and had an expected goal index of up to 2.14 - higher than Man Utd (1.49), and were denied a penalty in injury time. .
After that, Man Utd received its first defeat when losing 0-2 at Tottenham. Back at home in the third round, Man Utd started badly when nottingham led by two goals in the first four minutes, but still won back thanks to goals from Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes.
Neville felt that Man Utd always lacked flexibility at the beginning of the season under coach Erik ten Hag. Last season, Man Utd started even worse, losing 1-2 to Brighton at home and 0-4 at Brentford. They then returned to a four-game winning streak, including beating Liverpool 2-1 and Arsenal 3-1 at Old Trafford.
"Man Utd did not play well, but won six points. I think that is very important," added Neville. "Two difficult away matches against Tottenham and now Arsenal. If they lose points in the last two home games, Man Utd will be under much more pressure."
The former Man Utd defender also urged the old club to strengthen its forces in the closing days of the summer transfer window of 2023, bringing in at least one left-back and one central midfielder.
Man Utd is short of personnel in these two positions when Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo are injured. According to British media, Man Utd is targeting Benjamin Pavard, Marc Cucurella for the left-back position, and Ryan Gravenberch, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sofyan Amrabat to strengthen the midfield.
Arsenal also got off to an impressive start, defeating Nottingham 2-1, Crystal Palace 1-0 and drawing Fulham 2-2 at home, despite playing better than others. In all three of these matches, coach Mikel Arteta surprised by leaving Gabriel Magalhaes on the bench, and Ben White played a central defender pairing with William Saliba. Thomas Partey was pulled down to play at right-back, leaving rookie Kai Havertz in midfield with captain Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.
According to Neville, Arteta needs to stop testing the squad to return to the familiar framework that once held a great advantage in the race for the Premier League title last season. Neville wants Partey to return to the middle of the field to partner with Odegaard, Rice, Oleksandr Zinchenko to play at left-back, while the opposite wing belongs to Ben White or Takehiro Tomiyasu, in the match against Man Utd.
