Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher stand pitchside at a game
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher
Gary Neville has cast doubt over Manchester United's top-four hopes and firmly believes Arsenal could clinch the Premier League title ahead of Liverpool. He admitted that this is the first time in approximately 15 years he's predicted United to not make the cut for the Champions League places since their nightmare start to the season under former manager Erik ten Hag, despite improvements shown under Ruben Amorim.
Speaking to the Overlap US, the Sky Sports pundit said: "Top four... I've not got full faith in Tottenham, Aston Villa and, to be fair, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and all the other teams that are in and around it."
Moreover, Neville remains resolute in his pre-season prediction that Arsenal are poised for success: "I think it will be City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal at this moment in time. It's the first time I haven't said United will be in the top four, I think, in about 15 years! " Neville still backs the Gunners to gain momentum mid-season and potentially leapfrog Liverpool to snatch the trophy—despite Arne Slot's squad leading the pack for much of the season thus far.
"I'm going to go with Arsenal [to win the title] on the basis that I think they'll hit their form,' he added. "They've got a decent run of fixtures over Christmas, I think they'll get within a couple of points, a few points, and I think they will hit their form in the new year and I do think they will win the league this season."
Arsenal play Crystal Palace, Ipswich and Brentford over the Christmas period, while Liverpool face games against Tottenham, Leicester and West Ham, reports the Mirror.
Neville's co-host Jamie Carragher agreed with him about United missing out on top four. The Red Devils are still in 13th place and six points off fourth-placed Nottingham Forest.
However, he backed his beloved Liverpool for the title. He said: "I'll go for Liverpool [to finish as champions] and Chelsea second because they've got no Europe. So I'll go with Chelsea, I'll go with Arsenal and I'll go with Manchester City."
For relegation, both pundits were in agreement on Southampton and Ipswich, but Carragher tipped Leicester for the drop, while Neville felt Wolves would go down.
Neville added: "I watched Wolves against Liverpool and, to be fair, Liverpool weren't great in the game at all but they didn't have to be and Wolves were absolutely awful and I thought, 'Oh no! '."
"So I think Wolves are probably gonna go, unless they can do something in the January transfer window."
Neither of the duo factored Newcastle United into their thinking for the top four. Eddie Howe's side are currently five points off Nottingham Forest, who surprisingly sit fourth after 16 games.