Jamie Carragher Calls Out Gary Neville's Premier League Predictions

Jamie Carragher has accused Gary Neville of ripping up his Premier League predictions barely a week into the new season – and doing it more than once.

The opening round of fixtures has already scrambled a few pundit brains. Manchester United walked straight into a storm, beaten 2-0 by newly-promoted Hull City at the MKM Stadium in a result that sent alarm bells ringing around Old Trafford. Liverpool, under new boss Andoni Iraola, came within seconds of their own early-season crisis before Dominik Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute penalty salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to Newcastle United.

Those two chaotic afternoons framed a lively exchange on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, where Neville admitted he is struggling to split the two old rivals this year. Carragher was having none of it.

Pressed live on air to choose who will fare better out of Liverpool and United, Neville said: “Look, do you want me to be honest? Yes. I can't separate United and Liverpool in fourth place.”

Carragher pounced.

“I've heard you've changed it four times over the weekend,” he fired back. “So after United played, he changed it to Liverpool. Liverpool played and he changed it to United.”

Neville didn’t deny he had been shuffling the pack. He explained that his view had shifted as pre-season gave way to the reality of the opening weekend.

“A couple of weeks ago, I had United in third. I didn't have Chelsea where they were,” he said. “But as you sort of get nearer to the season, you start to look at the squads and you start to think about it.

“You think about Chelsea and the fact they've got no European football. That'll give them a big edge. I think City are in a better position than United. Look, at the moment, I'm not convinced by United or Liverpool, really, but I do think they'll finish fourth and fifth.”

Carragher, who has already nailed his colours to the mast by backing Arsenal to win the title, sees Liverpool in the chasing pack alongside Manchester City and Chelsea. Neville, pushed to give a definitive top-four, eventually laid out a table that will raise eyebrows in Manchester and beyond.

When told to commit, he crowned Arsenal as champions, with Chelsea as runners-up, ahead of City and United. All three of those sides opened their campaigns with victories that underlined why both pundits see them as the early pacesetters.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal began their title defence with a controlled 2-0 win over Coventry City, a performance that looked businesslike rather than spectacular but carried the air of a team that knows the road ahead. Chelsea, under the lights on Monday night, edged a wild 3-2 contest against Fulham, hinting at both their attacking potential and their lingering defensive questions.

Enzo Maresca’s first Premier League game in charge of Manchester City was anything but routine. Trailing Bournemouth deep into the second half, City needed late goals from Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol to turn a tense evening into a 2-1 win and spare their new manager a bruising debut.

Those three – Arsenal, Chelsea and City – are among nine clubs who started the new season with three points, setting an early pace in a table that already looks volatile beneath them.

The schedule now offers an immediate test of Neville’s bold reshuffle. Chelsea host Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge next, a fixture that will quickly reveal whether their opening win was a one-off thrill or the start of something more substantial.

City head to Selhurst Park for a Friday night meeting with Crystal Palace, a ground that has tripped up title contenders before. Arsenal must wait until Monday for their next chapter, travelling to Villa Park to face Aston Villa.

One weekend in, and the predictions are already wobbling. If this is how quickly the pundits are changing their minds, what will the table – and the arguments – look like by Christmas?