JAMIE CARRAGHER and Gary Neville have revealed their Premier League predictions and raised eyebrows with their respective picks.
The pair made their selections on Sky Sports’ opening Monday Night Football of the season.
And they were disagreeing right from the off as they differed on their title winners.
Carragher feels Man City will make it five in a row, but Neville believes Arsenal will finally trump Pep Guardiola’s men.
The ex-Man Utd defender told Sky Sports: “They’re just getting better, they’re getting nearer, and I don’t know, I feel they’ll do it,’ the former Man United star said.
“I feel they’ll do it at a certain point. And look, you can never be 100 per cent because of what Pep Guardiola does. He wins all the time.
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“But I feel Arsenal getting so close, and they’re so consistent that this could be the year.”
But the main bone of contention came in the race for the top four.
Carragher has gone for Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham to make the Champions League places alongside champions Man City.
But Neville somewhat surprisingly plumped for Man Utd and Chelsea to join Arsenal and Man City in Europe’s premier competition.
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And he explained his thought process as Liverpool icon Carragher questioned the omission of Arne Slot’s side.
Neville said: “If I look at Manchester United’s midfield players, if you add I think equal coaches, and we don’t know what Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot are going to match up like.
“I do think Liverpool, with Endo, Szoboszlai and MacAllister that they’ve done unbelievably well to get the performance levels out of those three that they have, Jurgen Klopp.
“I really do question that that midfield is going to stand up throughout the season and if it does again I take my hat off to them. Well done. Unbelievable. Prove me wrong.
“I think Manchester United have got more in midfield. I think they’ve got more depth, and they’ve got good players in there.
“Kobbie Mainoo, who’s coming into that now, alongside Casemiro, Fernandes is in there, Mason Mount’s in there. McTominay is in there.”
He also added: “My view would be the impact of Klopp will take its toll.”
Lower down the table, Carragher has Man Utd and Villa in fifth and sixth, while Neville has gone for Liverpool and Tottenham.
The former Liverpool man named West Ham as a potential European contender, while Neville selected Newcastle.
They agreed on the top scorer, Erling Haaland, and two of the three relegated teams in Southampton and Leicester.
Neville feels it will be a clean sweep of the promoted sides going straight back down, while Carragher sees Ipswich surviving at the expense of Nottingham Forest.
Carra believes Chelsea’s Pedro Neto could be the “impact signing” of the season, with Neville going for Tottenham’s new striker Dominic Solanke.
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Staying in North London, Neville feels Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber is the “player to watch”, while Carra named Brighton’s Gambian signing Yankuba Minteh.
And lastly, Carra picked Liverpool head coach Slot as the “manager to watch”, but Neville could not decide between three so named the Reds boss alongside Enzo Maresca and Erik ten Hag.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
