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Football

10th Nov 2016

Gary Neville explains why Liverpool are top contenders for the Premier League title

It probably pains him to admit it...

Ben Kenyon

It’s early days yet, very early days, and so much of the Premier League title race is yet to be run.

There will be many twists and turns in the tale of what will undoubtedly be a very close battle this season.

It wasn’t too long ago when everyone was tipping Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to crush everyone in their wake, before the former Barcelona man’s unbeaten start spectacularly crumbled.

So it’s too early to nail on champions this early in the day.

But Manchester United legend Gary Neville has stuck his head above the parapet and tipped fierce rivals Liverpool as top title contenders.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are sitting pretty at the top of the table after a string of emphatic wins, the latest of which was a 6-1 thrashing of Watford.

Klopp’s resurgent and irresistible side have also put Arsenal and Chelsea to the sword in what has been an impressive start to the Premier League campaign where they’ve notched 30 goals from 14 different scorers in all competitions.

But Neville firmly believes United’s old foes over on Merseyside have the edge on everyone else in the league, although he reckons Chelsea have just as much chance of securing the league trophy.

“They are both confident and they are going to take some stopping because of the fact they have got free weeks and they have got preparation time,’ he told Metro.

“I think at the moment do I trust any of them to say that you’re going to win the league? I’d say no.

“But I think looking at those two they’re going to take some stopping with the fact that preparation time is key for those teams and we have seen it in the past.

Liverpool two or three years ago under Brendan Rodgers when they didn’t have Europe they were dangerous.”

Liverpool have a decent run-in from now until Christmas and they could easily cement their position at the top of the league if they continue this blistering form.

Neville isn’t convinced about his former club at the moment after an up-and-down start to the season, before which they were among the favourites to win the league.

But he is refusing to rule them out of the title chase just yet, saying: ‘’United would have to improve significantly in the coming months [if they are to challenge].

”I think the injuries as well, particularly at the back, you’d see that could cause them problems. It doesn’t feel like they’re ready at this moment in time.

”But again if you said to me four/five weeks ago [when] Chelsea were beaten by Liverpool and Arsenal – would they be contenders? I would have said no.”

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