Gary Neville admits that the opening weekend of the Premier League season has forced him to change his top-four predictions.
Manchester United suffered a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal in their first game of the new season.
A howler from Altay Bayindir led to Arsenal scoring directly from a corner before proceeding to sit back and defend for the rest of the match.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Liverpool started their title defence with a 4-2 win over Bournemouth, and Man City breezed past Wolves with a dominant 4-0 victory.
Although United did not get the desired result, there is optimism that Ruben Amorim’s side will dramatically improve on last season’s 15th-place finish.
United have welcomed four new players to the squad that will help make that happen. They include Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Diego Leon and Benjamin Sesko.
Those signings should help United win more football matches throughout the season, therefore, gaining more points (42) than they managed last term.
Ruben Amorim giving instructions on the touchline along with Mikel Arteta
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
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Gary Neville backs Man Utd to make top-four
Results are what matter most in football. Whether Amorim is a success or not at United will be judged on whether he can win football matches as well as play an effective brand of football.
There is no denying that the Red Devils fell short against the Gunners, but there were still plenty of reasons for United fans to feel encouraged by their team’s display.
United’s performance on Sunday has led former captain turned pundit Gary Neville to change his Premier League top-four predictions.
“It’s a late change but I think there’s a bit of science [behind it],” Neville told Sky Sports.
“Last season, I remember watching Chelsea on the first game of the season and, at that point, no one had Chelsea finishing in the top four I watched them against City and I thought: ‘They are not bad, that will do damage this season, that’s a good team’.
“When I watched United [against Arsenal], I thought the performance was very good and I think they will get a goalkeeper. I’m banking on that – they will not make the mistake of not getting a goalkeeper in.
“When you bring a goalkeeper in, and you have those players up front with that front line and you have no European football, I think they will surprise people.
“Last week I had them finishing sixth to eighth, but I thought the performance was really good and I genuinely liked it.
“They were high energy… and it was a dominant performance against a top-three team. When United have beaten a top-three team in the last five, six, or seven years, it has been smash and grabs on the counterattack.
“Yesterday was a loss, but I value performances and if they perform like that, they will win a lot of football matches.”
Neville makes title prediction
When asked for his title prediction, Neville acknowledged that there was little to separate the three candidates – Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal.
The former England international believes the signing of Viktor Gyokeres will get Arsenal over the line, stopping Liverpool’s defence of the title.
“I think they are all in with an equal chance so I’ve got no certainty that Arsenal are going to win it,” he added.
“They’ve been consistent over the last three years and I do feel they will get there at some point. They are reliable and solid and they’re consistent, which I think is important.
“I think they’ve got the right materials, they are just going to have to sort that forward bit of the pitch out and I think Gyokeres will.”