Speaking on The Overlap, Gary Neville has been previewing the new Premier League season and he’s been talking about the title race.
As has been the case for almost five years now, many are expecting Liverpool and Manchester City to once again duke it out for the Premier League title, and after an incredibly close race last season, both teams have had a bit of a reshuffle.
Liverpool have broken their transfer record in signing Darwin Nunez in a deal that could be worth £85m, while Manchester City have signed Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips in big-money deals.
Both teams have spent, but according to Neville, Liverpool aren’t stronger than they were last season due to the fact they’ve lost Sadio Mane.
What’s been said?
Neville made a claim about Liverpool and City.
“On paper you’re making a prediction now, you have to say that City have gotten stronger. I don’t think you could say hand on heart that Liverpool have gotten stronger, because Mane was unbelievable,” Neville said.
Hard to say
Neville says that you can’t say that Liverpool have gotten stronger because they’ve lost Sadio Mane, but Man City have lost some equally as important players.
Fernandinho, the long-serving club captain, has left, Raheem Sterling, a player who has scored more goals under Pep Guardiola at City than anyone else, has joined Chelsea, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have both moved to Arsenal, and there’s still a chance that Bernardo Silva joins Barcelona.
Yes, Mane was vital for Liverpool, but City’s squad depth has been decimated.
If Haaland doesn’t hit the ground running it may not be long before questions are asked about City’s transfer window – of course, the same applies to Nunez, but given that Liverpool still have Diogo Jota and Roberto Firimino, a slow start from the Uruguayan may not be all that disastrous.
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