Gary Neville believes Liverpool will miss out on a top-four finish this season.
The Reds have began their Premier League campaign slowly and have picked up just 10 points from a possible 24.
Jurgen Klopp’s side lost out on the league title by a single point to Manchester City on the final day of the previous campaign but they appear to be fighting for a top-four finish rather than for top spot this term.
The Merseysider’s were edged out 3-2 by Arsenal at the Emirates recently and Neville is also unsure about whether the Gunners will qualify for the Champions League despite currently topping the Premier League table.
“I don’t think Liverpool will finish in the top four, and Arsenal could still finish outside the top four as well – but I’ll put [them] in for now just to keep all the Arsenal fans happy!” Neville told The Overlap (via football.london).
“I look at Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool – it’s still a big job for Arsenal [to finish in the top four].”
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The north London outfit finished fifth last season, two points behind fourth-placed and bitter rivals Spurs who snatched the final spot in Europe’s premier competition.
They were fortunate to earn the lion’s share of the spoils against Liverpool recently after a number of contentious refereeing decisions went against the Anfield outfit, but Neville believes the atmosphere inside the Arsenal camp feels ‘a little bit different’ at the moment.
“I remember at the end of last season, me and Jamie Carragher thought that it could be terminal for Mikel Arteta,” he continued.
“I was at the Emirates Stadium for the first time [this season] on Sunday against Liverpool. I watched Arsenal away at Old Trafford and at Brentford, and they played well at Old Trafford – even though they lost – and they were brilliant at Brentford, but the atmosphere felt a little bit different on Sunday – it was unbelievable.
“I want Arsenal to do well. I want Mikel Arteta to do well because he’s a young manager. The managers he’s up against – Antonio Conte, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, before he got sacked, they’re animals to be up against.”
There’s no denying that our current position in the league is concerning but with injuries to key men to contend with and Manchester City up next, it’s time for Klopp’s men to step up.
We’ve only played eight league games, however, so there’s no need to panic just yet.
Our second-half performance in Glasgow was impressive but we must carry that into this weekend’s clash with Pep Guardiola’s side.
Bobby Firmino is in red hot form, Darwin Nunez has two in two and Mo Salah netted a hat-trick at Ibrox so let’s hope they can wreak havoc amongst the Sky Blues defence on Sunday.