'Has to': Gary Neville admits he's changed his mind about where Liverpool will finish in the Premier League
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Liverpool head into the Premier League weekend looking to extend their lead at the top of the table.
The Reds rose back to the summit after beating Brighton last time out, with Man City’s surprise loss at Bournemouth giving them a helping hand.
Again, a little bit of a tough test lies in wait for Liverpool, although Aston Villa visit Anfield without a win in four and having lost their last three across all competitions. Opportunity beckons once again.
Liverpool’s brilliant start has made Arne Slot the most successful Premier League manager in history after 16 games of joining a new team.
While Slot himself has taken everything in his stride, it’s safe to say that he’s well ahead of schedule with the Reds so far.
So good has the Liverpool head coach been, that Gary Neville has now publicly changed his pre-season prediction about where the Reds will finish in the Premier League.
Gary Neville changes mind about Liverpool
Neville has been in hot water recently with Liverpool. The Man United legend has never been the most popular man around Anfield.
Nevertheless, his stock hit an all-time low this week when it was revealed that Liverpool thought about calling for a public retraction from Neville after he claimed live on air that Slot was third choice for the manager’s job in the summer.
Perhaps with that erroneous information in the back of his mind, the former right-back claimed that the Reds will finish outside of the top four this year. But speaking on The Overlap US, Neville has walked back that prediction.
“I never change my predictions at this stage of the season, but my predictions were that Liverpool wouldn’t even be in the top four. That has to change, I think,” said Neville.
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“Because they’ve done a far better job of settling Arne Slot in than I imagined and getting over the Jurgen Klopp exit. But I do think City and Arsenal will hit their stride at some point and at that point they will prove to still be the best two teams in the country.
“So, I don’t feel like I’m watching a champion team, but if this is the real City and Arsenal that we’re going to see all season and they’re going to be as inconsistent as they’ve been in these first ten games, then we could end up with a shot,” Neville added.
“They’re the only other team really that can win it but I still think it’s an outside bet.”
Why did Liverpool want Gary Neville apology?
It just says everything about Neville’s view on Liverpool that he predicted them to be outside of the top four this season.
That may still happen, of course, an excellent start could easily unravel if the Reds allow it to.
But given the level of experience and quality within the Liverpool squad – and the clear expertise of Slot and the Liverpool coaching staff – you would not expect that to happen.
Given how well things have gone, it’s little wonder that the Reds hierarchy briefly thought about making a public complaint over Neville.
“Liverpool couldn't find manager first, second or third (choice)," the pundit had said back in September. "Well they didn't want Arne Slot probably.” Neville is now finding out exactly why Liverpool did indeed want Slot.
