Gary Neville makes north London derby prediction and takes pop at Arsenal postponement

Gary Neville is backing Tottenham to beat Arsenal and believes the north London derby will be extra-spicy after the Gunners had the match postponed in controversial circumstances earlier this year – a decision he did not agree with.

Mikel Arteta’s side can wrap up fourth spot – and Champions League football – on Thursday night if they win their away trip to face Spurs, with Arsenal currently four points clear of their rivals.

The two teams had been due to face off in January but the match was postponed despite the Gunners only having one Covid case, with a combination of outgoing loans, injuries and Afcon participation leaving Arteta with a heavily depleted squad.

There was plenty of criticism over the postponement – not least from Spurs and manager Antonio Conte – and Neville feels the long-overdue derby will be particularly hostile as a result, while he believes Tottenham will have the edge in the contest.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, he said: ‘I think it will be a really tasty game on Thursday night, not just because of the fact it’s a north London derby and they’re playing for Champions League places.

‘But the way in which this game was called off earlier in the year – even I wasn’t too happy with that!

‘I wasn’t comfortable with it, I was doing the game, I was coming down on the Saturday and I just felt that it… wasn’t great.

‘So there will be a little bit of needle, there is anyway so we don’t need to talk that up. Look, it’s Arsenal’s to lose but Tottenham on Thursday night, that will be hard for Arsenal. If they come out of there with a draw or a victory they’ll have done very well with the feeling that will be in that stadium against them.

‘It’s a big game, I’m looking forward to it. I fancy Tottenham