Gary Neville was in disbelief when hearing about Arsenal’s travel arrangements to get to their match against Man City.
The Gunners left London Stansted Airport at 5pm on Wednesday, slightly over three hours before their Premier League match at the Etihad got under way.
Arsenal lost both Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari to injury inside the opening 24 minutes of the contest before going on to lose 3-0 to City.
Neville, who was commentating on the game, was shocked by Arsenal’s preparations.
He said: “I was staggered when I heard their travel plans, I’ve got to be honest.
“A plane three hours before kick-off, I was thinking more the risk of the weather we’ve got at the moment, the storm.
“Obviously I don’t think it’s ideal to fly on a plane three hours before kick-off.
“It was the time of the travel that I was most alarmed about, so close to kick-off.”
Arsenal’s plane left Stansted at 5.03pm and arrived in Manchester at 5.38pm, before making the short trip to Liverpool John Lennon Airport between 6.39pm and 6.54pm.
The travel arrangements saw Mikel Arteta’s side arrive at the Etihad with just over two hours to spare before their 8.15pm kick-off.
After being outplayed by City, largely thanks to David Luiz’s horror show at the back, the Gunners stars arrived back at Stansted at 1.31am.
Goals from Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden put a huge dent in Arsenal’s top-four hopes.
Arsenal trail Chelsea, who currently reside in fourth, by eight points with nine games remaining.
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