Jamie Carragher vs Gary Neville: Early Season Predictions
Jamie Carragher has accused Gary Neville of performing an early-season U-turn over who will fare better between Manchester United and Liverpool – after just one round of Premier League fixtures.
The new campaign has already shredded a few predictions. United walked straight into trouble, beaten 2-0 by newly-promoted Hull City at the MKM Stadium in a result that set alarm bells ringing. Liverpool, under Andoni Iraola in his first Premier League match in charge, were seconds from their own disaster, trailing 2-1 at home to Newcastle United before Dominik Szoboszlai slammed in a 99th-minute penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw.
That chaos framed a lively exchange on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
Neville was asked to make the call: who finishes higher, United or Liverpool?
“Look, do you want me to be honest? Yes. I can't separate United and Liverpool in fourth place,” he said.
Carragher pounced.
“I've heard you've changed it four times over the weekend,” he snapped. “So after United played, he changed it to Liverpool. Liverpool played and he changed it to United.”
Put on the spot, Neville admitted his thinking had been on the move.
“A couple of weeks ago, I had United in third. I didn't have Chelsea where they were, but as you sort of get nearer to the season, you start to look at the squads and you start to think about it,” he explained.
“You think about Chelsea and the fact they've got no European football. That'll give them a big edge. I think City are in a better position than United. Look, at the moment, I'm not convinced by United or Liverpool, really, but I do think they'll finish fourth and fifth.”
Pressed to lock in his full top-four prediction, Neville went bold. He backed Arsenal to win the Premier League title, with Chelsea as runners-up, followed by Manchester City and then United. Liverpool, by that logic, would be pushed down to fifth.
Early evidence did little to undermine his confidence in the Gunners, Blues and City.
Arsenal opened their title defence with a controlled 2-0 win over Coventry City, Mikel Arteta’s side easing into the season with the kind of composure expected of contenders. Chelsea, under Enzo Maresca’s fellow newcomer in the dugout Mauricio Pochettino previously but now reshaped again, showed both vulnerability and cutting edge in a 3-2 victory over Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
For City, Maresca’s first Premier League game in charge brought late drama. Trailing Bournemouth, they turned it around with goals from Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol to claim a 2-1 win and keep their own title credentials intact.
Arsenal, Chelsea and City were three of nine sides to start the new season with a win, laying down early markers while United stumbled and Liverpool clung on.
The schedule now offers an early test of Neville’s reshuffled hierarchy. Chelsea face Brighton and Hove Albion next at Stamford Bridge, a chance to back up the Fulham result and justify talk of a “big edge” without European distractions. City travel to Selhurst Park for a Friday night meeting with Crystal Palace, a ground that has tripped up title hopefuls before. Arsenal wait until Monday, heading to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa.
One round in, the table means little. The noise, the doubts, and the pundit predictions already feel very real.
