DEAD-BALL FOCUS HAS KILLED OFF TITLE DREAM

Neville says set-piece obsession and failure to address striker issues has made the Gunners 'turgid to watch'

- BY MIKE WALTERS X@Mike WaltersMGM

GARY NEVILLE has blamed Arsenal's doomed title challenge on an "obsession with set-pieces".

As the Gunners slipped 11 points off the pace, with leaders Liverpool almost disappearing over the horizon, the Premier League brand took a monster hit over the weekend.

Best league in the world? Only a Devon Loch-style collapse will deny the Kop a 20th crown now, while the three clubs who came up from the Championship last May are favourites to be relegated again.

Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Neville fears Arsenal have missed the boat, just as the big guns were asleep at the wheel when Leicester pulled off their 5,000-1 title miracle in 2016.

In a season when defending champions Manchester City trail the Gunners by nine points with 12 games remaining, manager Mikel Arteta is in danger of wasting Arsenal's best chance to end 21 years without planting their standard at the summit.