Gary Neville disagrees with Gary Lineker on Arsenal claim from Sunderland draw

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Arsenal’s fine form in the Premier League hit a slight bump in the road as a late draw against Sunderland came right before the international break.

Goals from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard appeared to give the Gunners all three points, cancelling out a finish from former Hale End academy star Dan Ballard.

However, in stoppage time, Sunderland struck again as Brian Brobbey showed great strength to shrug off Gabriel Magalhaes and score an equaliser.

With Manchester City beating Liverpool, it leaves Arsenal four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Given the excellent run of form, some couldn’t see anything but a win for Mikel Arteta’s side, meaning the late draw felt more like a defeat.

However, others believed that the trip to the Stadium of Light was always going to be a tough encounter.

Gary Lineker claims he couldn’t see Arsenal draw with Sunderland coming

Arsenal’s winning run of ten consecutive games, eight of which came with clean sheets, has put the side in a commanding position in all competitions.

The Gunners have got used to that winning feeling, which makes the late draw at Sunderland all the more sickening.

While it’s still advantage to the North London side in the Premier League title race, Gary Lineker claims he was surprised by the result.

He said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “I don’t think anyone expected Arsenal not to win, and Arsenal to concede two goals against Sunderland. But Sunderland can continue to surprise everybody.”

Sunderland are in the top four, though, which is a surprise given their recent promotion, but they have shown themselves to be a competitive outfit.

For that reason, Gary Neville is actually one of those who disagreed with Lineker and believed that the Gunners may not win at the Stadium of Light.

Gary Neville predicted Arsenal would struggle at Sunderland

While Lineker claims that others would not have backed against Arsenal in their trip to Sunderland, Neville is one of those who did.

He explained why he was not surprised when speaking on the Gary Neville podcast, as he said: “I’m not sat there at all watching Arsenal get a point there at Sunderland yesterday and thinking in any way, shape, or form that I’m surprised.

“In fact, in my predictions earlier on in the week on the podcast, I said I thought it would be a draw. So I’m not sort of rewriting history after the game. I genuinely thought this could just be a game that might just catch them out a little bit and cause them a problem.

“And they’ve conceded two goals. They’ve conceded a goal in the last minute. That’ll hurt them because they’re a proud team defensively, and they’re a great side defensively.

“But they’ve got to accept that, then just, you know, it’s the Premier League. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and there are going to be some bumps along the way. And I just think that was one of the bumps that you get.”

Arsenal’s late draw will feel like a blow, not least with Man City’s victory and the tough run of fixtures they have coming up.

However, the Gunners still have the title race in their hands with plenty of months left to keep themselves out ahead.

Sunderland face off with Man City in just a few weeks, so they will be hoping for a favour back the other way.