Carragher Dismisses Liverpool and United in Premier League Title Race
Jamie Carragher has drawn a hard line under the Premier League title debate for next season – and it does not include either of his old enemies from Old Trafford or his beloved Liverpool.
On a bruising afternoon for Arne Slot’s side, Liverpool’s season sagged again with a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. They were 2-0 down, clawed it back through Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo, then watched Kobbie Mainoo rip the game away with a composed 77th-minute winner.
United’s victory did more than sting Liverpool pride. It booked their place in next season’s Champions League and all but locked in third place, opening up a six-point gap over the Reds with three matches left. The mood around Old Trafford turned quickly: from crisis talk earlier in the year to whispers of a title challenge in the near future.
Gary Neville was the one to give those whispers a microphone. On his podcast, the former United captain argued that the title could be “up for grabs” over the next couple of seasons and suggested United were edging towards that level again.
Carragher was having none of it.
Pressed on whether Liverpool or Manchester United were better placed to win the Premier League next year, he backed Liverpool in relative terms – but then shut the door on both when it came to the actual title.
“I still think Liverpool are better-placed,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast, pointing out that United had pretty much their strongest XI on the pitch in this game, while Liverpool were still three or four players short of full strength. Liverpool, he noted, also have something United lack: a core of players who have already dragged a team over the line to major trophies.
Then came the real verdict. Carragher does not see either club in next season’s title picture. For him, the race stays where it is: Arsenal against Manchester City.
He described United’s season as carrying a “false economy”. No European football. Early exits from both domestic cups. A clean league calendar that flatters the final position. Third place, yes, but not the third-best team in the country in his eyes.
That, he argued, is why Liverpool remain in a stronger overall position once injuries clear and the squad is whole again, even after a damaging defeat and a campaign that has fallen well short of expectations.
Neville, looking at the same landscape, saw opportunity rather than illusion. He highlighted the two great unknowns at both clubs: the managers and the summer recruitment. Each, he believes, will look to bring in three or four players, but the scale and quality of that rebuild will depend on how much money is actually available.
For Neville, the window is opening. Pep Guardiola will not be at Manchester City forever. The other traditional heavyweights, in his view, are still searching for their best selves. That, he argued, leaves a league title “up for grabs” in the next year or two – and he believes United could be ready to pounce when that moment arrives.
The present, though, still belongs to the current duopoly.
Arsenal and Manchester City are locked in another tight run-in. Mikel Arteta’s side swept aside Fulham 3-0 on Saturday to move six points clear at the top, but City hold two games in hand, starting with Everton on Monday night. Arsenal are chasing a first Premier League crown since 2004. City are hunting what would be a seventh title in nine seasons.
While United prepare for Sunderland next weekend and Liverpool regroup for Chelsea at Anfield, Carragher’s view is stark. The next chapter in the title story, at least for now, still looks like a two-club script – and it is being written in north London and the blue half of Manchester, not on Merseyside or at Old Trafford.
