Gary Neville's bold Arsenal prediction after Tottenham rout that's reliant on one star

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Gary Neville reckons Arsenal can claim more silverware than just the Premier League title if Mikel Arteta's squad keeps delivering performances like their masterclass against Tottenham – but only if Declan Rice stays fit long term. It proved a nightmare debut north London derby for Thomas Frank as his Spurs outfit were outclassed.

A magnificent Eberechi Eze hat-trick, coupled with a Leandro Trossard first-half strike, wrapped up the points for the Premier League pacesetters. Their latest triumph extends their advantage at the summit to six points ahead of second-placed Chelsea following Manchester City 's stumble that saw them slip to third.

Spurs' loss means they remain winless at the Emirates Stadium for more than 15 years. Neville was providing commentary in north London, and the Manchester United icon was impressed by what he witnessed.

He said on The Gary Neville Podcast : "Very good, a lot to like about them. Over the last few years they have been building towards trying to win a title and they haven't won that title yet.

"But they do a lot of things very well and I think the narrative going into today's game, that I wasn't even entertaining in the last 48 hours, was this: without Gabriel, or Gabriel is injured.

"No one is interested anymore. Arsenal fans aren't interested, Mikel Arteta is not interested, and what they demonstrated today is that they've now got a squad that can cope without players being fit. You know during a season certain players are going to miss certain games.

"We've seen Hincapié come in today, Mosquera has done it throughout the season, so don't let that narrative build - nobody is interested in excuses.

"We heard last year he had no Saka, no Odegaard the year before, two years ago, three years ago no Saliba. That's not this Arsenal team.

"The mentality is such that they've moved beyond that period where they are looking for excuses or think it can impact them if a player is missing.

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"They've got a really good squad. The drop-off between player number one in the team and player number two who comes in is small."

Neville admitted: " Declan Rice would be a problem, but he is an exceptional talent and someone who is very different."

He then went on to say: "It's not only a squad that should go on and win the Premier League - and I'm not jumping ahead of myself here - it's a squad that I can see winning the Champions League in the next two or three years.

"It might not be this season, because sometimes when you go to win your first Premier League, you become so consumed by that and you can sometimes get done in a European game in midweek on a two-legged tie.

"But they're getting to that level of performance, resilience, stability and consistency. It's a very consistent-performing team, this one that Mikel Arteta has got."

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The Gunners currently sit pretty at the summit of the Premier League table whilst also boasting a perfect record in the Champions League with four victories from four matches.

Nevertheless, Neville did highlight one particular worry he has regarding Arteta's squad, saying: "The only player you'd be slightly worried about losing for a period of time is Declan Rice, because you can't replace that. That's your Roy Keane , that's your Rodri - that's the player that holds you together."