Jamie Carragher makes Mikel Arteta ‘points won’ dig at Gary Neville’s Prem predictions

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville locked horns once again on the Sky Sports YouTube channel, with the former taking delight in a comment made by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta found himself in Jamie Carragher’s crosshairs as the pundit argued with Gary Neville over their Premier League predictions. The Sky Sports duo featured on the broadcaster’s YouTube channel to review their past Premier League winner forecasts from recent years.

While Neville claimed he was ahead in their prediction battle, the former Liverpool star hit back with a hilarious reference to Arteta’s comments from the start of the season. When questioned about catching up to his ex-rival, Carragher said: “But I’ve actually got more points over that time, and have you heard Mikel Arteta of late? Mikel Arteta is right.

“He’s got more points than anyone over the last three seasons. And I’ve got more points over him over the last five seasons.”

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The former Liverpool defender’s dig referenced remarks made by the Arsenal manager during a press conference before the new Premier League season kicked off. The Spaniard said at the time: “Yeah, you keep digging, digging, digging and you have to be digging because one day the gold is going to be there.

“That’s all the time. When I’ve been taught, when I’ve been educated and that’s it.

“For three seasons we’ve had more points than any other team in this league, which is incredible. That’s how you have all the consistency.

“Now we have to do it in a season to have one more point or the same amount of points and more goals different than any other team. That’s the objective.”

Whilst Arteta’s remarks about the points total are entertaining and peculiar, they aren’t actually accurate either. Despite finishing ahead of Manchester City last season, Pep Guardiola’s side have still gathered the most points across the previous three league campaigns, totalling 251.

Arsenal, in second place, have amassed 247 points from the last three seasons combined, whilst Liverpool have collected 233. During the same discussion over the Premier League crown, Neville supported the Gunners once more this year, believing the side will ultimately “get it over the line.”

Neville said: “I’ve got to stick with Arsenal because I’ve felt they were going to win it for the last three years. I felt they’re going to get it over the line, and it would be wrong of me to change now and I can’t split the three of them to be fair.”

Carragher remained loyal to his former club, who finished 10 points clear of Arsenal last campaign, despite harbouring some concerns about their season’s beginning. He said: “I’m going to go for Liverpool but I do think I agree with you in that I think all three of them – anything could happen.

“I was a little bit unnerved by what I saw from Liverpool in the first game and there might be a case of, I think there’s got to be a little bit of rejigging going on in terms of how we set the team up. It’s still early days and you obviously back [Arne] Slot to find a way to make that work.”

Naturally, Arteta is confident his own squad can finally shake off their misfortune and secure that elusive title. Speaking about the atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium, he added: “The mood of the place, the energy around it, the enthusiasm that the boys, the staff came with from day one, now we’re going to do better, to keep improving as a team and to win.

“That’s what drives my energy and that’s why I’m so excited.”

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