Gary Neville believes Arsenal shot themselves in the foot by asking for last week's rearranged north London derby to be postponed.
Their top-four clash with Tottenham had been due to take place on January 16, before the Gunners requested for a postponement because of positive Covid-19 cases in the squad, injuries and players away on international duty.
Arsenal suffered a heavy 3-0 loss to their rivals last Thursday and sustained a 2-0 defeat by Newcastle on Monday to lose control of the race to qualify for the Champions League.