Why is Gary Neville so BITTER?

In case you weren’t aware, Liverpool are currently 15 points clear of Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title with nine matches to go.

Second-place Arsenal have played one game fewer and so the gap could well be reduced to 12 quite soon. But it would take a swing of 15 points over the course of those 10 Arsenal matches for the Gunners to eat into what appears to be an unassailable lead.

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However, if you’d been listening to Gary Neville all season on Sky Sports then you might get the impression that it was Liverpool who were the also-rans.

First we had this.

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"They're going to have a good season it looks like and maybe get Champions League football," he told the Gary Neville Podcast back in September after an away win for the Reds at Wolves.

"I didn't feel like I was watching title winners being honest with you. They're well below Arsenal and City but I don't think that's shocking anybody."

OK then.

Neville didn't see Liverpool as contenders

And after Arne Slot’s side beat the same opposition in February when it became increasingly apparent that the Reds were taking command of the title race?

"It was a good day for Liverpool and it was also a little bit of a good day for Arsenal,” he said. "Maybe in the sense that, hang on a minute Wolves are near the bottom of the league and Liverpool just got over the line today, but if you're Liverpool you know you're not going to win every game well.

"You know that there's going to come a point where a team are going to just catch you out a little bit and they've got two big games coming up now this week Liverpool. They couldn't afford to drop points today."

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Hmm.

I don’t know about you but does it feel like Neville’s been waiting for that “catch you out a little bit” game? Well, Gary, it hasn’t arrived.

And judging by your “ribbons on the trophy” comments following Arsenal’s draw with Manchester United on Sunday, I think even you’ve given up hope by this stage.

Even before the game, he was still trying to play down Liverpool’s achievements. "Arsenal still should have been closer to them,” he told Sky Sports News at Old Trafford.

"Arsenal of last season are as good if not better than the Liverpool of this season, so Arsenal should be neck and neck with Liverpool.”

Neville continues to play down Liverpool

I mean, what?

You cannot compare teams across seasons for a start, it’s a pointless exercise for all kinds of reasons. But perhaps the best benchmark we have is a straight-up, head-to-head comparison after 29 games.

This season, after their 29 matches, the league leaders have won 21 matches, drawn seven and lost one. They have scored 69 goals and conceded 27. They have earned 70 points.

After 29 matches last season, Arsenal were second in the league - two points behind Liverpool - with 20 wins, five draws and four defeats. They scored 70 and conceded 24. That gave them 65 points.

Now I’m no genius but that gives Liverpool of 2024/25 a five-point cushion over the 2023/24 version of Arsenal. That means Liverpool are better and surely you’d have to concede that Gary, having seen the facts?

Is Neville jealous?

Unless you’re being influenced by some other factor. Maybe bitterness, jealousy or just good old-fashioned begrudgery.

Liverpool moved on after nearly a decade under Jurgen Klopp when Man Utd were in the wilderness to serenely cruise to the top of the table under their new coach. It must be hard to take for a die-hard Red like Neville.

But he’s being paid to act like a pundit, not a sour fan who can’t take Liverpool doing well. It comes across, I’m sorry to say, as a bit pathetic.

Kudos to Nev for crediting Liverpool - finally - as champions-elect but there’s still the small matter of the Champions League to address.

And what does Neville think of Liverpool’s chances in the second leg of their last-16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on Tuesday?

Bear in mind Liverpool have won four straight matches on their own turf in Europe this season, conceding only once, and beating - among others - the champions of Spain (and Europe) in Real Madrid and Germany in Bayer Leverkusen.

“I’m not quite sure I see them winning it – you can never write them off obviously – but I don’t quite see it,” he said.

“It wouldn’t surprise me actually if they went out this week. It’s a 50-50 game for me, either team would easily win, PSG are a good side.”

I give up.

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