Gary Neville admitted to not being particularly thrilled at the prospect of watching Liverpool win the Premier League title, claiming it was “painful” for him to be at Anfield.
The Reds have the chance to wrap up their title today as they host a struggling Tottenham side. Arne Slot needs just a point from the last five games of the season to secure his first piece of silverware in charge of Liverpool, having taken over from Jurgen Klopp less than 12 months ago.
They will be expected to wrap things up at the first time of asking, with Spurs’ priorities lying elsewhere. Ange Postecoglou could make a number of changes to his side in order to rest players for the Europa League semi-finals, which may play further into Liverpool’s hands.
Neville has already given the visitors no hope of picking up any sort of result at Anfield, meaning Liverpool would go on to create some history as it draws level with Manchester United on 20 league titles – the most for any club in England.
And while he was able to pay a humble tribute to the champions elect, the former United captain couldn’t hide his true feelings about being at Anfield, with Neville commentating on Liverpool’s game against Tottenham for Sky Sports.
“Look, you’ve got to respect the team that have won the title, and have been the best team this season,” Neville said before the game.
(Image: Getty Images)
“I think they deserve great congratulations, I think it’s one of the great coaching performances that we’ve seen, to come in from Jurgen Klopp, to not get the players he wanted in the transfer window, to have that shadow of the three probably best players in their positions in Europe hanging over him all season, you’ve got to hand it to him [Slot], it’s an absolutely brilliant achievement.
“They’ll do the job today, they’ll finish it off, but it’s painful – it’s a sobering day!”
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And doubling down on his prediction earlier in the week, Neville again gave Spurs no hope of spoiling Liverpool’s party.
“There is not a chance that Spurs will get anything here today,” he added. “This is the greatest day in these Liverpool players’ lives, in the manager’s life, the fans – I was driving down the M62 and you could see the old retro shirts are already on.
“This is not going to happen today, Spurs have not got a good record here anyway, they’ve hardly won here in the last 25 years, and they’ve switched off when it comes to the league this season anyway. This is going to be a celebration, it’s ceremonial this.”
