And Gary Neville believes the Gunners need to win at City if they are to dent the hosts' hopes of winning an unprecedented fifth successive Premier League title, with the Sky Sports pundit previewing the huge weekend clash as part of his work for the Overlap.
But it was his other bold claim from his pre-match comments that has raised most eyebrows among football fans having suggested that Arsenal's current team will not go down in history if they are unable to raise one of the biggest prizes in club football in the coming years.
Mikel Arteta has guided the Gunners to consecutive second-placed finishes with only his former club able to topple his side in the last two seasons but has just one FA Cup and two Community Shields to show for his efforts as he approaches his fifth-year anniversary at the club.
And Neville believes only a Premier League or Champions League win will enable this current Arsenal side to sit alongside some of the other great club sides in top-flight history in a view shared by his fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.
"If this superb Arsenal team doesn’t win the Premier League or the Champions League then they can forget about going down in history," he wrote in his pre-match Overlap newsletter on Substack.
"That’s harsh but the reality of elite sport. No-one will fondly recall the magnificence of William Saliba and Gabriel at the back, the brilliance of Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice, David Raya’s extraordinary saves or the incision of Bukayo Saka up front.
"There will be no Netflix documentaries. They will never be feted or admired. They will be dismissed as nearly men.
"History is unforgiving of those who fall just short. And that’s why, for all the excellent work they’ve done in the past two years, there is still a step to take."
William Saliba and Gabriel will only go down in history with silverware, according to Gary Neville.
William Saliba and Gabriel will only go down in history with silverware, according to Gary Neville.
Neville has spoken frequently in the past of how Arsenal's wins at United affected him and his teammates in the epic title races of the late nineties and early noughties between his team and their North London rivals and believes victory at the home of their latest title rivals could be similarly seismic.
Arsenal would leapfrog Liverpool and City to go top of the table with all three points on Sunday and would be a statement win given Arteta has yet to win at either Anfield or the Etihad in the league.
"We’re too early in the season to describe Sunday’s clash with Manchester City at the Etihad as a title decider," Neville added.
"Yet Arsenal need a statement win because they need to damage Manchester City and to demonstrate to themselves that they are the team of the moment."
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