Shock Man City loss to Wolves ‘good’ for the Premier League, says Gary Neville

Manchester City were the lone remaining Premier League side with a perfect start to the 2023-24 season. Until they faced Wolves on Saturday, that is.

The Sky Blues suffered their first defeat of the campaign — their first dropped points in the league of any kind, actually — when they fell 2-1 at Molineaux Stadium to the home side.

It was a shock result given the recent history between the sides and their relative standing, with Wolves near the basement prior to Saturday’s proceedings.

While the loss didn’t have any immediate repercussions for Pep Guardiola’s men other than allowing of the chasing teams to inch closer to their perch atop the league table, Gary Neville said after the match that the result should be seen as a positive for the teams chasing them, especially the one that fell just short in last season’s title race.

“I think it’s good for the league,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “I know City fans won’t think so but the fact that they’ve given encouragement to other teams, I think it’s really important.

“Arsenal, I think, after feeling bad after the North London Derby last week will be buoyant this week and feeling, ‘Right, game on. City are fallible, they’ve got mistakes in them. They’re conceding goals, they’ve lost twice in a week.’

“City don’t normally do that.”

Up next for City is a trip to RB Leipzig in the Champions League with their next Premier League fixture away at Arsenal on Sunday, October 8.

The Gunners closed the gap on City to one point after they picked up a comfortable 4-0 win at Bournemouth.