OPINION
It’s not very often you will hear Gary Neville saying anything that might be construed as supportive towards Liverpool and their fans, but the former Manchester United man’s latest comments might just stir up a little bit of hope at Anfield.
The Reds showed a real steel on Sunday afternoon to scrape past strugglers Fulham in a 2-1 win that saw them reclaim their position at the top of the Premier League table, and according to Neville, it could be a much bigger victory than most people realise.
Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, the respected pundit said: “They’ll have known that was a big moment.
“There will be times where Liverpool drop points before the end of the season, so too will Manchester City I think, but it couldn’t be on Sunday against Fulham.
“Manchester City’s game in hand is at Manchester United, at Old Trafford, on April 24. There’s an opportunity for Liverpool here to step clear, with City not catching up for a few weeks, with the added complication of an FA Cup semi-final too. It’s a good thing for Liverpool, I believe.
“They had to win today.”
Whisper it begrudgingly, say it through gritted teeth maybe, but Neville is bang on the money.
Liverpool could not have lost on Sunday. It would have been a simply unthinkable, catastrophic error that would have handed City the advantage in the title race and put a huge dent in any kind of self-confidence that the Reds might have rekindled with their stunning 3-1 win over Bayern Munich in midweek.
By seeing out the game at Craven Cottage, however, Jurgen Klopp’s men have massively swung things in their favour.
City are once again playing catch up, and they have some difficult games on the horizon. The Manchester derby, plus three games against Tottenham in 11 days in April will be big, big asks for Pep Guardiola’s men, and as they proved in their stuttering FA Cup win over Swansea City at the weekend, they can be got at.
It never ceases to amaze just how fickle football can be, and for the sake of one James Milner penalty, the Reds have, just about, put themselves back in the driving seat of this incredible title race.
