Liverpool is officially the new Premier League champion, and with it, the Reds have managed to make a fair few pundits look very silly.
Arne Slot’s side is celebrating after wrapping up their 20th league title on Sunday, taking them level with rival Manchester United and confirming its status as the most successful English club. With four games still remaining, the party on Merseyside looks set to last for some time – both for the players and the fans.
The title caps off what has been a sensational first season in charge for Slot, with Liverpool having not been given a chance by most pundits before the start of the season. Few went quite as far as Gary Neville though.
The former Manchester United captain’s prediction that the Reds wouldn’t even make the top four has gone down in infamy. Neville didn’t help himself by suggesting his old side would finish above Liverpool either.
But while the Sky Sports pundit got it spectacularly wrong, one of his former teammates actually had Liverpool worked out from a very early stage in the season. Paul Scholes was one of the few pundits to recognize that the Reds had what it takes to be crowned champions, even while Neville was still tipping Arsenal.
(Image: The Overlap)
Back in September, only a few games into the Premier League season and with Liverpool’s 3-0 win over United at Old Trafford fresh in his mind, Scholes made his first suggestion that the title wouldn’t be a two-horse race between Arsenal and Manchester City, as many had predicted.
Having heard Jamie Carragher tip City for the crown on The Overlap, Scholes responded: “I think Liverpool might have something to say about it. I know you’re trying to find ways of them not, but when you look at them, you mentioned the forward players there, and then I look at Liverpool’s forward players, I think they’ve got five or six.
Learn more
“Seeing Liverpool first-hand live that day I thought ‘wow, what a squad of players that is’. I don’t see many weaknesses. The only one we thought about was possibly Van Dijk or Konate get injured in the center-half position, and I just see a squad of players, I see them five or six midfield players all can run. Then I look at any three of the six forwards can play.”
A month later, Scholes would double down on his belief that Liverpool would be involved in the title race, and even suggested the Reds would be a bigger threat than Arsenal at a time when City was still seen as the favorite.
“I think Liverpool’s squad is better than Arsenal’s,” Scholes said on Stick to Football. “I think Guardiola will be more worried about Liverpool than he is about Arsenal.”
Liverpool.com says: Although Scholes didn’t quite go as far as tipping Liverpool for the title, he certainly comes away from the Reds’ triumph with a lot more credit than his former United teammate. Take note Gary.
