Manchester United legend Gary Neville believes Liverpool cannot challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title despite the current positions
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville made a bold claim by undermining the Premier League title chances of Liverpool. The Reds are currently second in the Premier League table with just one point separating them from Manchester City.
Liverpool have won eight out of the 12 Premier League games with three draws and one loss this season. Arsenal are Neville’s pick to challenge the Citizens for the Premier League title despite lying parallel with Liverpool on points. The Gunners are in third position due to the goal difference that is keeping Liverpool ahead.
The Reds were eighth in the Premier League table last season after 12 matches, 10 points behind then-league leaders Arsenal. City were one point behind the Gunners at the time and still finished the season on top.
Neville told Stick to Football Podcast by Sky Bet (h/t Mirror) that Liverpool are not capable enough to challenge City like last season’s runner-up, Arsenal. He said:
“I think that Arsenal can win the league this season. Starting like this, the football will come, the football that we saw from them last season will come. The fact that they’ve started a little bit slower, I never think is a bad thing, they’re sat there in the pack behind (top). I don’t think Liverpool are (capable).”
Liverpool’s season revamp and controversial refereeing
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revamped the midfield during the summer transfer window and sold many long-serving players. Many senior team players regressed due to age which played a massive role in the Reds’ struggle last season.
Klopp has called his new-look squad “Liverpool 2.0” as he has deployed new tactics and style of play in his current team. The age of the group has reduced but they’ve kept the core philosophy of “pass and move” alongside Klopp’s counter-pressing.
The Reds appointed Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold as their senior team captain and vice-captain respectively. Van Dijk has started the season in sensational form despite receiving a red card against Newcastle United.
Liverpool’s only loss came against Tottenham Hotspur in an enormously controversial way due to the blatant errors from match officials. The game involved a VAR mess when the referee disallowed a legitimate opening goal of the match from Liverpool.
Furthermore, Liverpool ended the game with nine men after receiving two red cards. One of the red card recipients, Diogo Jota received two yellow cards in quick succession. Even though, Spurs’ fullback Destiny Udogie tripped himself during the Portuguese forward’s first booking.
Liverpool have suffered from controversial decisions in several games yet they have managed to continue their sensational form. The Reds have scored the second highest goals in the Premier League with 27 goals. Liverpool and Arsenal jointly lead the Premier League with the fewest goals conceded, both allowing only 10 goals so far.
More Liverpool News
- Brentford manager Thomas Frank heaped praise on Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah
- Luton’s Andros Townsend hails ‘immense quality’ of Liverpool’s midfield engine Alexis Mac Allister
- Carragher tips Liverpool as City’s biggest threat in Premier League title race
Many Kopites criticized Neville for backing the referees throughout the ordeal despite the apology from PGMOL. We think the former Manchester United fullback tends to let his bias get the better of him despite being a credible football pundit.
After the last season, no Kopite would have guessed that the Reds would bounce back so quickly. However, Klopp’s “Liverpool 2.0” is playing fantastic football and seems like they can surpass the success of “Liverpool 1.0”.
