It wasn’t just Liverpool fans who’ve had a wry smile across their faces following Michail Antonio’s prediction that West Ham would finish above the Reds this season, which he made in the lead-up to his side losing 3-1 at Anfield.
The Irons attacker was also pilloried by Callum Wilson, his usual partner on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, with the Newcastle striker jokingly goading the 33-year-old over his absence from the show this week following Sunday’s result.
The latest edition began with the Magpies ace and host Rickie Haywood-Williams listening back to the audio of Antonio’s boast from a few days ago, with Wilson then exclaiming: “Wow, I think that says it all.”
The 31-year-old continued: “He has come with a very blunt prediction and, for me, I’m not a Liverpool fan but I received a lot of messages from people who do support Liverpool. [Adebayo] Akinfenwa even put a post on his Instagram, sending a few shots about him.
“For me, Michail is Michail and he’s not here to defend himself, which is a difficult one. When you put a statement out like that… If he had said that statement and they had gone on and beat Liverpool, Michail would be sitting here tonight under any circumstances.
“The fact he made that prediction, went out there and had no goals, no assists, no shots on target, no aerial duels won; he lost the ball ten times and played 74 minutes and then got dragged. If it was me, I wouldn’t show my face either!”
If a former player had made the prediction that Antonio put out on air, it might’ve been shrugged off as mere partisanship, but it certainly isn’t what you’d expect to hear from someone who’s currently active – not least when it was a shot at his team’s upcoming opponents.
The West Ham striker had the perfect opportunity to back up his words when he came up against Liverpool last weekend, but as Wilson pointed out by referencing stats from Sofascore, the 33-year-old had a very quiet day at the office.
Nor did it help his cause that, in the early exchanges at Anfield, he missed a gilt-edged chance to put his team in front and deliver the perfect riposte to anyone who’d taunted him over his pre-match boast.
It’s still early in the season, of course, but the Reds are looking good to finish ahead of David Moyes’ side with a few points to spare, and the Irons manager would hardly have been thanking his player for what he said publicly in the lead-up to the fixture.
Antonio can expect quite the ribbing off Wilson once more whenever the duo next appear together on the podcast!