“They are the 3 Arsenal most important players-Arteta must keep the 3 of them fit if he really want to win the league this season”- Manchester United Legend Gary Neville names three Arsenal players that must no be injured if Arteta really wants to win the PL- Not Saka, Not Odegard and not Martinelli

Gary Neville names three players Arsenal can’t be without if they’re going to win title

Arsenal beat Manchester City to move above their Premier League title rivals on Sunday, with Gary Neville pinpointing three key men for Mikel Arteta’s challengers

Gabriel Martinelli was Arsenal’s match-winner against Manchester City, but Gary Neville believes team-mate Declan Rice and centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel are the players most crucial to the Gunners’ title push.

Brazil defender Gabriel began the season out of the first-team with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta using Ben White in the middle and Thomas Partey at right-back. The former Lille man has started the last five league games, though, with Arteta’s team picking up 13 points and conceding just three goals .

Summer signing Rice has started all eight games after his British-record move from West Ham, while Saliba hasn’t missed a minute. Arsenal showed against City that they can win big one-off games without Bukayo Saka, who missed out through injury, but Neville maintained defensive solidity is key.

Asked by Sky Sports presenter David Jones whether Arsenal need Martinelli and Saka to stay fit in order to challenge, Neville said “yeah, they do.” However, he made clear how important the defensive-minded players are to Arteta’s side.

“You know what’s more important than that? The two centre-backs and Rice,” he continued. “They will not win the league if they don’t have the two centre-backs and Rice.”

Arsenal will hope the injury which has forced Saliba to pull out of the French squad is nothing too serious. The former Saint-Etienne man picked up a toe injury in Sunday’s game, with Jean-Clair Todibo taking his place in Les Bleus’ squad for the October international break, and was a big loss for the Gunners when he missed games through injury in the second half of last season.

Neville also addressed the performance of David Raya, who he felt improved after a shaky start. Raya was almost caught out by City striker Julian Alvarez early on, but recovered to help his team secure victory.

“I was worried about the goalkeeper [David Raya] in the first half today,” he added. “That was close – he’s averted a little bit of a crisis there.

“If he concedes a goal in the first half with one of those moments of anxiety… Hopefully tonight he’s gone home and reflected, he came out a lot better in the second half, but Mikel Arteta would have gone in at half-time and I don’t know what he’ll have said to them all – because they all came out better – but he had to get through that game.”

Arteta seemed happy enough with Raya’s display, though, having backed the new man ahead of last season’s first-choice keeper Aaron Ramsdale. “I think he was excellent,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “The way he controlled the ball. How dominant the was and how high he played. I love players with courage and David certainly has big ones.”