‘Ultimate test!’ - Gary Neville makes bold Arsenal vs Chelsea prediction as Xabi Alonso takes high-flying Blues to the Emirates

Neville has tipped Arsenal to beat Chelsea in their highly anticipated London derby on Sunday. Both sides head into the clash at the Emirates Stadium boasting perfect starts to the new campaign.

Alonso's Chelsea have emerged as early title contenders following a flurry of goals in their opening fixtures. However, Neville expects the hosts to prove too strong and has predicted a 2-0 victory for the reigning champions. Arsenal began their title defence with a routine 3-0 win over newly-promoted Coventry City, before beating Aston Villa 1-0 thanks to Bukayo Saka’s winner.

The United legend believes Chelsea's forward line will cause problems, but he ultimately backed Arsenal's defensive resilience. Speaking on Sky Sports podcast, Neville highlighted the tactical differences between Alonso's side and Arsenal's previous opponents.

"I think Arsenal will realise Chelsea have better attacking players than Aston Villa so they’ll have to be alert and alive," Neville explained. "But I think Villa are the most organised team in the league except for Arsenal, I think they’re really well organised and so well drilled by Unai Emery. Chelsea aren’t as well organised as that and they aren’t as disciplined."

Chelsea are currently enjoying a strong revival under Alonso, bouncing back from a disappointing 10th-place finish last term. The Blues secured a 3-2 win over Fulham before edging past Brighton in a thrilling 4-3 encounter at the weekend.

Despite that attacking flair, Neville feels Arsenal's structure will give them the upper hand. The pundit noted that the visitors' open style might play directly into the hands of the champions.

Neville said: "They won’t defend in the same way as Villa so I think Arsenal may actually fancy their chances going forward more against Chelsea, but they’ll also have to be alert to the fact Chelsea have some fantastic attacking players. That’s what makes it really interesting. I think Arsenal will win the game but it’s a really good test for them and a really good moment to see Chelsea in the early days of Xabi Alonso. 

"They’ve been so exciting in their first two games but this is the ultimate test for them against the champions who don’t make a lot of mistakes. I can’t wait for it, I think it will be a really good game. And I think Arsenal will be really looking forward to it. It will show us a lot of where Arsenal and Chelsea are because I’ve put them as first and second."

Neville has previously backed Arsenal and Chelsea to finish as the top two teams in the division this season, adding extra weight to Sunday's clash. The match will provide a crucial early indicator of whether the Blues can genuinely sustain a title challenge.

Revealing his final prediction on The Overlap, he concluded: "We’ll go 2-0 to Arsenal. I think Arsenal are going to be so up for it and strong, they are going to be really aggressive."