Gary Neville rarely passes up a chance to get in a dig at Liverpool, but to give the ex-Manchester United defender his due, he reserved some high praise for the Reds and Jurgen Klopp on Sky Sports last night.
He and Jamie Carragher were discussing which teams were likeliest to threaten Manchester City’s recent domination of the Premier League, with the 48-year-old commending the Merseysiders for putting up the biggest challenge to Pep Guardiola’s side over the past five years.
LFC are the only team other than City to have won the title since 2017, while also twice running the formidable Etihad Stadium outfit to within a point of eventual glory, despite recording a much lower net spend in that time.
Speaking on MNF, Neville said: “The only team that’s proven they can run them really close, and I would trust most, is Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool from when they came back last time.
“Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool lived with them for three or four seasons. They’re the only team who’ve really proven they can do it. Arsenal did it for 30 games this season and were exceptional, so let’s hope it can happen.
“I don’t buy into this doom and gloom that we might as well all pack up and go home and that no-one else has a chance. I think the other teams are spending enough money to be able to get it right, but City have the most exceptional manager.
“However, I would say that Jurgen Klopp’s performance at Liverpool, with his net spend of something like £200m in the last five of six years compared to Pep Guardiola’s, deserves a special mention. He’s equally as good.”
These are all fair comments from Neville, and while we mightn’t often agree with him, we certainly hope he’s right in backing the Reds to be the likeliest candidates to potentially knock City off their perch next season.
You can view the full verdicts from the MNF pundits below, via @SkySportsPL on Twitter:
"I'm gonna go Liverpool and Manchester United" 🔴
Who will challenge Manchester City next season? 🤔🔮 pic.twitter.com/MXCWxARg43
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 22, 2023