Gary Neville has tipped Liverpool to crumble under the pressure of the title race if it goes down to the wire – and has warned that a five-point gap to Manchester City is only a small one.
Newcastle United did the Reds a huge favour on Tuesday night, before the 1-1 draw with Leicester City at Anfield on Wednesday, but Neville is still backing City to retain their Premier League crown.
Via the Mirror, Neville told Sky Sports: “[Manchester City] are still in this title race. Five points is not a major lead by any stretch of the imagination – it can be gone in two games and it will just go away and move away from Liverpool if they make a mistake or two.”
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Despite there being no evidence of this Liverpool side feeling the pressure, Neville says he is still backing City because he feels Jurgen Klopp’s men are vulnerable.
He added: “If City keep close within the last five games, I think they will win it. If it comes down to nerve in the last five games, City will win it.
“Liverpool could pull clear a little bit and that could be a problem for City: they might just get far enough in front to be able to cause City a bigger problem.”
While Neville is right about nothing being won yet, and that a five-point gap is not decisive, suggesting that the Reds will fall under the pressure near the end is an interesting claim.
Nothing so far suggests that it will happen – and it will be up to us to prove him wrong. We think his comments might be more out of hope that expectation!