Gary Neville Drops Premier League Title Prediction as He Risks Further Liverpool Hum!liation

Gary Neville has already put forward his early prediction for who he believes will be crowned Premier League champions next season.

Although the current campaign has only just come to a close, it’s evident that Liverpool and their top-tier rivals are already laying the groundwork for a serious push in the 2025–26 season.

Liverpool clinched the title just ten days ago, celebrating in style at Anfield after outclassing Arsenal and Manchester City to claim a record-equalling 20th league crown.

Since lifting the trophy, the Merseysiders have moved swiftly in the transfer market by securing Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong for £29.5 million. They’ve also opened negotiations for his team-mate Florian Wirtz in a potential deal exceeding £100 million, which would break the British transfer record, and have reportedly intensified their pursuit of Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez, valued at £45 million.

Arsenal, determined to close the gap next term, are said to be finalising a move for long-standing Liverpool target Martin Zubimendi. They are also weighing up a striker signing, with Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko among the names under consideration.

After being snubbed by Wirtz, who has chosen a switch to Merseyside, Manchester City are shifting their attention to other targets including Rayan Cherki of Lyon, AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders, and Wolves’ Rayan Ait Nouri.

Chelsea are adding Liam Delap from Ipswich Town to their ranks and are reportedly keen on bringing in AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Meanwhile, Manchester United, attempting to rebuild after a disastrous campaign, have splurged £62.5 million on Wolves forward Matheus Cunha and could match that figure to secure Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford.

United’s aggressive approach in the market comes in the wake of their humiliating 15th-place finish in the Premier League and a meek Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs.

That outcome stands in stark contrast to Gary Neville’s pre-season predictions. The former United defender had tipped his old club to finish third, behind Manchester City and champions Arsenal, with Tottenham placed just behind them. Despite a shocking 17th-place league finish, Spurs did manage to qualify for the Champions League by defeating Neville’s former side in the Europa League final.

Neville later acknowledged his misjudgement in claiming Liverpool would fail to finish in the top four. Still, he insisted for much of the season that Arsenal would edge the Reds in the title race.

That prediction also turned out to be off the mark, as Arne Slot’s team ended the season 10 points ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side, despite dropping points in their final four games — with two draws and two defeats — after securing the title.

Considering the transfer activity Liverpool are already engaged in, it would take someone bold to bet against them retaining the Premier League title for the first time since 1984.

Gary Neville, however, is prepared to take that stance. Speaking on the latest episode of the It’s Called Soccer podcast on the US Overlap channel, he was asked to name his pick for the 2025–26 Premier League champions.

And he said: “I’ve got to go Arsenal again, I’ve got to double down, haven’t I?

“I’ve gone there the last two seasons and they finished second in the last three seasons, actually.

“I didn’t back them the first season, I backed City, but I backed them the last two and I’m going to stick with them.”

Neville was also asked on the podcast about the transfer business the Reds are doing. He said: “I think when you’re talking about winning the league, what is it that improves you?

“I mean, the only thing that’s going to improve you when you win the league is signing world-class players, or players that have got the potential to be world-class players. So signing Wirtz is fantastic.

“Frimpong and then there’s talk of Kerkez as well, deals with their right and left-back situations.

“So to get those three done, if they were to get those three done quite quickly, would be smart business. But I wouldn’t have expected anything else from Liverpool.”

Liverpool and the other Premier League teams will find out their fixtures for the 2025-26 season when the schedule is released two weeks from now, on Wednesday, June 18.

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