Gary Neville has backed Manchester City to retain their Premier League crown and fears it could be a walkover.
The champions won the title for a second successive year in May following a dramatic final day comeback to beat Aston Villa at the Etihad. It was their fourth title in four years under Pep Guardiola as their domestic dominance continues and they've bolstered their ranks by signing superstar Erling Haaland.
It means they will do away with their false 9 system and play with a conventional striker - giving them yet another dimension. Liverpool finished a point behind City last term, but Neville feels as if the Reds may struggle to keep pace with their rivals this term - who are odd-ons to reclaim their title.
He said on the Overlap : “Last season we had a title race and I think Liverpool were at absolute breakneck, giving everything to hang in there until the end. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if this season, if they [City] do win it by a big amount of points.”
Liverpool have run City close in two of their title wins whilst the other two have seen them pull away from the rest. The additions of Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez have also strengthened them, despite several notable exits from Manchester, namely Raheem Sterling.
It is Haaland's arrival that has captured the imagination though, despite an underwhelming first outing against Liverpool in the Community Shield. The Norwegian failed to score and missed an easy chance late on, but he still made an impression on Neville, who is already fearful of how good he could be.
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He claimed: “There was that one in the first half where he got the shot away where he leant on Robertson, and I thought ‘Ooohhhh’ when you’re playing against a brilliant defender like Robertson in that channel with Van Dijk.
“I don’t see many people going in that channel and getting joy. He’s leant on him and got his shot away and I thought that’ll go in at Anfield, that’ll go in at a game. I was a little bit like you [Jamie] I thought that game could easily have been 3-1 or 4-1 the other way on a different day."
Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United are the only team in the Premier League era to win a hat-trick of league titles, which underlines the task ahead of City and Guardiola. The Red Devils did so on two occasions, winning from 1999 - 2001 and from 2007 - 2009.
