Gary Neville forced to make Liverpool title U-turn and admits he was wrong over Arne Slot
Liverpool are two points clear at the top of the Premier League and have also moved to the summit of their Champions League group but Gary Neville is still not convinced
by Paul Wheelock · The MirrorLiverpool have had a week to remember, unlike their rivals. A hard-fought 2-1 victory over Brighton at home on Saturday saw the Reds take a two-point lead in the Premier League.
This was followed by an impressive 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen at home on Tuesday, which put them at the top of the revamped Champions League group stage. It's no surprise that Arne Slot's team are looking forward to their final match before the year's last international break, when they host Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday night.
However, the mood in the Manchester City and Arsenal camps is quite different. After Liverpool's comeback win over Brighton and their own surprising 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth, City lost their top spot in the Premier League over the weekend.
Things got worse for City on Tuesday when they suffered a third consecutive defeat - following the Bournemouth loss and a Carabao Cup exit at Tottenham Hotspur - with a 4-1 thrashing in the Champions League at Sporting Lisbon. Bernardo Silva admitted afterwards that the dressing room was in a "dark place".
Meanwhile, Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan on Wednesday, following a similar loss at Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday. The latter result has left the Gunners seven points behind the leaders going into this weekend's action.
Arsenal face a tough challenge this Sunday as they travel to Stamford Bridge for a 4.30pm clash with Chelsea, while Manchester City are set for a difficult encounter at Brighton on Saturday evening at 5.30pm.
Despite the hurdles, Gary Neville is convinced that it will be last season's top two teams, not Liverpool, who will be vying for the Premier League title in May.
The Manchester United icon and Sky Sports analyst confessed he was mistaken earlier in the season when he doubted his old foes would challenge for the title or even a top-four finish under new boss Arne Slot.
"I think it's been an unbelievable start for Arne Slot, he could never have imagined that it would have gone as well as it has," Neville said on the 'It's Called Soccer!' podcast. There is part of me that still wants to get to January, February. Part of me still wants to see that end of the first round of games."
Neville explained that it is Liverpool's performances which are makking him doubt they have what it takes to go all the way.
He said: "Part of me thinks in the games that I've particularly watched them... they were really good at Old Trafford (when Liverpool won 3-0), I thought they were fantastic in that game, but when I watched them at Wolves, the Chelsea game, I wasn't wholly convinced.
"They got the job done, just like they did against Brighton on Saturday, so they're getting the job done in certain games. But I don't feel like I'm watching a champion team."
Despite this, Neville added that his initial suggestion that Liverpool wouldn't finish in the top four is now clearly wrong. "I never change my predictions at this stage of the season," he said. "My predictions were that Liverpool wouldn't even be in the top four.
"That has to change because they've done a far better job of settling Arne Slot in than I imagined and getting over the Jurgen Klopp exit. But I do think that City and Arsenal will hit their stride at some point and that they will hit their form. At that point, they will prove to still be the best two teams in the country.
"I don't feel like I'm watching a champion team. However, if this is the real City and Arsenal that we are going to see all season and they're going to be as inconsistent as they have been in these first ten games, then we could end up with a shock. They're the only other team that can win it, but I still think it's an outside bet."
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