ary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Karen Carney disagreed with many of their Premier League predictions for the new season – including on who will win the title.
Manchester United legend Neville is backing Arsenal, having spent big on Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber already this summer. Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Neville said: “I’m banking on three things for Arsenal. Post-treble, a little bit of a *sigh*. Although there was no sign of that against Burnley.
“More competitions this season, they don’t have the biggest squad. And Haaland getting injured, if he does miss 12-13 games, that could give Arsenal an advantage especially with the likes ofDeclan Ricenow there. Havertz, Timber and Rice do improve them enormously – but losing Timber will be a big blow.”
Carragher and Carney, however, are confident Manchester City will win the league for a fourth consecutive season.
“More competitions this season, they don’t have the biggest squad. And Haaland getting injured, if he does miss 12-13 games, that could give Arsenal an advantage especially with the likes ofDeclan Ricenow there. Havertz, Timber and Rice do improve them enormously – but losing Timber will be a big blow.”
Carragher and Carney, however, are confident Manchester City will win the league for a fourth consecutive season.
“I just look at Pep Guardiola and he’s been a manager for about 15 years – I’m not sure if he’s ever had an off-season where his team hasn’t scored 90-odd points,” Carragher said. “I don’t see them dropping off, I think someone has to get up to their level. If they get back to their normal selves, it’s probably another five or six points above what they got last year.”
Carney, meanwhile, added: “I just think they’re too strong and experienced. I do think it will be a problem if Erling Haaland was to get injured – Kevin de Bruyne is now out injured, but I just think the squad has got enough for me.”
The trio all agreed that City and Arsenal will be the top two again this season and also tipped Manchester United and Liverpool to round out the top four, with Chelsea just missing out on a Champions League spot. “The reaction after the game yesterday was very positive towards Chelsea, and rightly so they played well,” Carragher explained.
“But it is still Chelsea at home playing against Liverpool who had no real defensive midfield players. I still think Chelsea are a work in progress between now and the end of the season. But I don’t expect them to get top four but I think Mauricio Pochettino will improve them.”
“It could happen [Chelsea getting top four], they haven’t got Champions League this year as well, but I think goals,” Carney added. “That’s why I put Liverpool in there because they have got a magnificent front six in essence. The Jury is still out for me on Chelsea and on how clinical those players are.”
Neville then surprisingly picked Aston Villa to finish sixth under Unai Emery this season, while Carragher and Carney opted for Newcastle. Neville’s pick is all the more surprising given Newcastle beat Villa 5-1 in their Premier League opener.
“It’s bold isn’t it,” Neville admitted. “To be honest with you I thought Newcastle were sensational on Saturday. But you’re predicting things you don’t know are going to happen, I think Newcastle could have a really good run in the Champions League and are the type of team that could catch teams off guard.
“I think the Champions League really does consume you, particularly if you get to the knock out phases. Your players head’s turn. We saw Newcastle’s players heads turn last season around the Carabao Cup final last season. They’re going to have a Carabao Cup final every few weeks in the Champions League.”
“I think we underestimate Newcastle, and I’m talking about myself in that because I haven’t put them in the top four,” Carragher said. “We all keep looking at them thinking, ‘they can’t keep this going’. It’s only one game this season but it was a carbon copy of what we saw last season – the high energy. It reminds me of what we saw at Liverpool in Jurgen Klopp’s first season.”
Carragher and Carney were also in agreement over who they think will get relegated with Luton, Sheffield United and Burnley tipped to go down. “I love what Vincent Kompany’s done, the shift in that side in the last 12 months is brilliant, I just think if he doesn’t change his philosophy you’ll see some big score lines,” Carney said of her Burnley pick.
“I know it was against Man City, but I think there are other Premier League teams around that have that ability to get around tight situations and I think Kompany will still play his philosophy – and I have nothing against that. But I think it might catch them out.”
Neville, however, believes Bournemouth will go down with Luton and Sheffield United, explaining: “There’s probably four teams and you’re talking about Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton. There’s probably like three, four teams that you think could go down and I have gone for Bournemouth. Ultimately, it could be Burnley or Bournemouth.”
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