Liverpool suffered a 2-1 loss to Manchester City and trail Manchester United by five points in the Premier League table.
Gary Neville believes that Liverpool will still secure Champions League qualification this season - but will have to show their mental resilience to do so.
Securing Champions League football is Liverpool’s principal aim at the start of the season. With 13 fixtures remaining, they have ground to make up - but Neville feels that the Reds are capable of doing so.
What’s been said
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, the former Manchester United and England defender said: “First half, they were poor but second half, they were dominant for 35-40 minutes.Then all of a sudden, madness happens and they end up losing. It they can compartmentalise that and not create something negative, then they will still be fine.
“It's whether they are strong enough mentally to be able to cope with the games every three games, big challenging fixtures that don't got theirway and now they are four points behind the top five.That's not a big gap at all, there is a long way to go and have to play most of the teams above them but there is a question mark, isn't there? I still think they will but they have to box that up very quickly, chuck it in a corner and say what it is.
“The two goals they concede.. unlike Alisson, to be honest (to concede a late penalty that City scored to win the game). He normally reads situations really well. To clatter through and hit the player is not like him.
“Not a good moment for him but everyone has those moments. No-one will feel safe because it's a bizarre season. Teams are beating each other when we don;t think they can. Strange things are happening.
“At this moment, it's a bit glass half-empty for Liverpool but there are 13 games to go and with nine games to go, we might think it's glass half-empty for Chelsea, Manchester United or Villa. We don't know where it's going to go.”
Salah struggles
City were much the better team in the first half but were limited to any real clear-cut chances. Liverpool improved markedly after the break, and missed several opportunities before Dominik Szoboszlai scored a wonderful 74th-minute free-kick.
But the Reds failed to hold on, with Bernardo Silva equalising for City on 84 minutes and then Erling Haaland firing home a penalty in stoppage-time.
Liverpool may rue the fact they could not make their dominance count - and told of his concern in regards to Mo Salah’s performance. The winger has scored just once in his past 12 matches.
Neville added: “Salah's not showing his best, is he? He's nowhere near his best. He;s been so consistent for so long and there was always going to be a prolonged dip. This is a prolonged dip. There were times out there you didn't recognise him but he did put in a beautiful ball for one of the chances.”
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