Liverpool have forced Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville to do some damage control after his horrible predictions earlier this season. The Manchester United legend put his faith in Arsenal to win the Premier League this season after challenging Manchester City.
At the same time, Neville confidently outlined that Manchester United will finish above the Reds to secure a top-four position. However, things have gone drastically different this season with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table right now.
Nevertheless, things are still too early in the English Premier League to make any absolute judgments with 13 games played. Liverpool have won 11 out of those 13 games with a draw and a loss forcing them to lose points.
The Reds are currently sitting on 34 points, nine points ahead of second-placed Arsenal and third-placed Chelsea. Defending champions Man City are fifth in the table, 11 points behind Liverpool after suffering a convincing loss at Anfield.
Liverpool beat the Citizens 2-0 in a dominant fashion to maintain their strong form despite the fixture congestion. The Reds have won 18 out of 20 games in all competitions and sit at the top of the Champions League table as well.
Liverpool have arguably faced the toughest European fixture compared to their competitive league rivals this season. They have defeated AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Bologna, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid so far in the Champions League.
Shift in Neville’s stance towards Liverpool
However, the post-October international break form failed to convince Neville that the Reds are quickly transitioning positively under Slot. The pattern in the former England right-back’s opinions have changed for the first time after the Man City victory.
He has consistently backed Arsenal until now but Speaking on his latest Gary Neville podcast, the opinion from the Sky Sports pundit shifted drastically after the Liverpool victory over Man City. He said:
“None of us expected it. I think Liverpool fans expected it. They may have expected them to finish in the top four but it’s absolutely brilliant what Arne Slot’s done and it gets really serious. It’s gone from being a honeymoon period, a great start to hang on a minute.”
However, the bias within Neville leaves him with a glimmer of hope for Arsenal to find a way back with the Reds slipping somewhere down the line. He added:
“I’m not saying Liverpool are going to win the league. I still think there’s a long way to go. But there is no doubt that now there’ll be an expectation. I wouldn’t ever say if they don’t win it from this position they’ll have bottled it. I don’t believe that’ll be the case. I think they will have a difficult patch at some point in the season. They’ll drop points and it’s up to whether the others, Arsenal and City can resurrect themselves and get on a run. Arsenal have got to go and win four, five, six games on the bounce.”
Liverpool fans have enjoyed Neville’s biased opinions since his return to punditry from the failed managerial stint at Valencia. However, the stance have drastically changed this season with unprofessionalism taking over the Sky Sports pundits with their constant criticisms.
This includes Neville’s partner and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher who is currently having a one-way feud with Mohamed Salah. The duo remained silent during the David Coote saga and when they voiced their opinion, it only alienated the Kopites. Bear in mind that Liverpool never asked for Coote to make that video and prove his bias but the Reds have suffered from poor officiating since the last season.
Gary Neville pushes for damage control as Liverpool continue to prove him wrong.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot needs to navigate his team through the continuous fixture congestion amid injury issues despite their strong start. (Photo credit: Liverpool FC)
Neville criticised Liverpool’s official statement against the infamous offside call for the Luis Diaz goal against Tottenham Hotspur. With the media presence that the former Man United right-back possesses, his statements have more weight than many influential people.
Emphasis on Slot to maintain the winning consistency
Liverpool have repeatedly proven Neville wrong and must stay focused to complete the task. The Reds have suffered from undesired injuries to in-form Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley in the last week.
With the ruthless fixture congestion continuing, the task of maintaining winning consistency will face more adversity before the outcome. Slot needs to make sure that Liverpool avoids complacency, maintaining dominance over the things they can control.
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As for the British media and Neville, Liverpool fans have stopped hoping for a change and more professionalism from them but we will call them out as it is the right thing to do.