Arsenal made it back-to-back wins in the Premier League this weekend, but Gary Neville still has doubts over a couple of their stars.
The Gunners did well to stifle Newcastle’s threats and are now just one point behind Manchester City who sit top.
Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead through Martin Odegaard and then a Fabian Schar own-goal sealed the three points in the second half.
Despite Arsenal’s triumph, Neville still has his doubts over Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.
“Martinelli and Saka are still not at their best,” he told Sky Sports after the match.
Martinelli is Arsenal’s top scorer in the Premier League with 15 goals to his name so far. He’s also produced five assists this season too.
His form has somewhat dipped in recent weeks as he is without a goal contribution in Arsenal’s last three matches.
Against Newcastle, he took three shots himself but was unable to find a way past Nick Pope in goal.
In the case of Saka, some have suggested that he hasn’t quite been the same since his penalty miss against West Ham.
Like Martinelli, Saka is without a goal or assists in his last three matches and he did have a couple of chances against Newcastle.
While Neville still isn’t convinced that either player is at the top of their game right now, he was impressed with Jorginho and Odegaard.
“I thought they might get eaten alive. The atmosphere was ferocious. Arsenal grew up here a lot,” Neville explained.
“Mikel Arteta deserves a lot of credit for picking Jorginho. Many would have said get Thomas Partey back in there.
“The class Martin Odegaard showed in the first 30 minutes was outstanding. Jorginho composed his team-mates and guided them.”
Man City are everyone’s title favourites right now, but Arsenal have rediscovered their form at a crucial point.
Arteta himself was pleased with the performance against a Newcastle side who have caused plenty of problems this year.
“I think they showed what it takes to come here in this environment against a great team, what it takes to win,” he said.
“The desire to keep digging, keep believing, that reward is so big and today we had to do it here, we did everything we had to do to win the game.
“Sport in general gives you another opportunity and [when] you have the privilege to have another opportunity you have to take it.
“To take it you have to learn from those moments and you really have to see yourself how you felt in that moment to overcome it and act in a…
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