Gary Neville snubs Liverpool as he doubles down on Premier League title prediction

Gary Neville has once again snubbed Liverpool by predicting which team will become Premier League champions in May.

At the start of the campaign in August, Neville backed Arsenal to end a 21-year wait for domestic success and win the 2024-25 Premier League, while Carragher tipped Manchester City to a fifth consecutive title.

The former Manchester United defender even omitted Liverpool from his top four contenders, instead naming City, United and Chelsea in that order, with Arne Slot's men fifth – representing the final Champions League qualifying spot . Carragher replaced Arsenal in second, Liverpool in third and Tottenham in fourth.

At the halfway point, it's fair to say that both pundits made spectacular errors in their predictions – with the Reds eight points ahead of high-flying Nottingham Forest and nine ahead of Arsenal in third.

Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football, Neville said: “Liverpool, I thought they would have a real hangover with Jurgen Klopp leaving and that's why you'll see I've corrected that in a moment , Arne Slot has been the manager for the season so far.

“I thought Liverpool were going to go down and for them to be so far ahead and now favorites for them, it’s an incredible performance – I didn’t expect that.”

Despite his glowing remarks about the Merseyside side, Neville snubbed the chance to change his Liverpool prediction and stuck to his guns with Arsenal, while Carragher chose to trust Slot's men to win their second Premier League crown.

Explaining his choice, Neville said: “Liverpool are firm favorites and they are in great form, but there is still a long way to go.

“Arsenal have been through the mill in recent years, it's gone all the way. Sometimes when you don't win your first title it doesn't happen in the most expected way and things can happen.”

Liverpool were City's main challengers during Klopp's reign, but one season saw their title challenge collapse when Virgil van Dijk suffered a season-ending injury. And Neville believes a repeat could hurt Slot's chances of winning the trophy.

“What strikes me is that Van Dijk, if he got injured, it could be a completely different story,” he added.

“These six points that Arsenal could score [win] in a few days [against Brentford and Brighton]it could happen. it would decrease quite quickly [if he got injured]Virgil van Dijk was a huge player for them.”

Asked about Bukayo Saka's long-term injury, Neville believes the Gunners have collective strength to see them through during the 23-year-old's absence.

“Things are going against Arsenal at the moment, but they are holding on. They are the only team that can beat Liverpool,” Neville said.

“I just think Arsenal have some resilience towards them, they have four defenders who can hold on and get through games.

“I think they will attack better in the next part of the season. I think they will hold on, and if they can get closer towards the end, they could knock Liverpool out. That's what I think .hoping!”