Neville Hits Back at Arsenal Fans Over 'Paranoia' Regarding City-Liverpool Commentary

Gary Neville has squared up to Arsenal fans accusing him of bias during his commentary of Manchester City's thrilling late comeback against Liverpool earlier this month, branding their concerns as "paranoia."

The ex-United skipper was in the booth as City overturned a deficit at Anfield to secure a 2-1 victory in a pivotal Premier League title decider. Dominik Szoboszlai had fired Liverpool ahead with a thunderbolt free-kick in the 74th minute, but Bernardo Silva levelled proceedings six minutes later before Erling Haaland converted a penalty deep into stoppage time—courtesy of a howler from Alisson—to seal three crucial points.

Neville's animated reaction to City's dramatic turnaround drew the ire of Gunners supporters, who questioned whether his commentary leaned too heavily towards Guardiola's side. The pundit has now firmly rejected those accusations, appearing on the Stick To Football podcast to make his defence.

"You know something, paranoia is incredible," Neville declared. "I think Arsenal will win it. Arsenal fans are p***** off with me because when City scored two in the last ten minutes at Anfield, they thought I was over-celebrating. The fact of the matter is that it was big. By the way, Arsenal wobbled like mad for a week or so afterwards, so it was big."

The result leaves City second in the table, five points adrift of Arsenal with a game in hand to play. The two sides are scheduled to meet at the Etihad in April in what could prove a title-defining encounter.

Meanwhile, TalkSPORT's Alex Crook has ramped up the pressure on Mikel Arteta, suggesting the Arsenal manager would need to consider his position should the Gunners fail to land the league this season.

"If Arsenal don't win the league, I think it will be an incredible failure and I think it'll be on Mikel Arteta. I would go as far as to say he should offer to quit," Crook stated. "If they blow the title again… I was watching the Wolves game and they weren't even in the game, Arsenal were strolling around and keeping possession; it was a training match.

"But there lies the problem – if you're champions elect and 1-0 up after four minutes against probably the worst team the Premier League has ever seen…you go for the jugular. You get the second goal and get the third goal, get the fourth goal. Goal difference could be vital in the title race.

"So, to not do that and go back to this safety-first football and put the handbrake on, alright, you do get the second goal, but you invite Wolves back into the game. He's got players there who are more than capable of putting Wolves to the sword, but they're not doing it. They're trying to plod their way to the Championship…if they don't win it… I think Arteta has got to walk away."