For Gary Neville to be proven right and for Liverpool to drop out of the top four places this season, two things would have to happen. Firstly, the teams below would have to get a lot better. Secondly, Arne Slot's side would have to drop off substantially.
It is possible, of course. There could be a miracle at Chelsea and Manchester United and Liverpool could have an injury crisis. Short of that happening, though, it is pretty hard to see that being how things pan out.
There was evidence of that on the opening weekend of the Premier League season too. While Liverpool clinically got the job done at Ipswich Town after riding out a tricky first half at Portman Road, Spurs — another side hoping to chase down the Reds — struggled against newly promoted Leicester City.
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Tottenham went ahead through Pedro Porro but could only draw 1-1 thanks to Jamie Vardy's equalizer. Ange Postecoglou's team looked good for a while but tailed off significantly and couldn't get over the line.
"It's the first game but there will be a feeling of disappointment," Jamie Carragher said post-match on Monday Night Football. "They were so much in control of that game and they've ended up losing it.
"Postecoglou has taken Tottenham back to what we associate with Spurs and a lot of that is good: attacking play, great on the eye. But you always feel like they can let you down and concede a goal.
"When you're so dominant in a game, to not come away with three points is criminal. It wasn't like we saw Ipswich with Liverpool where it was a raucous atmosphere and it was difficult to play — it was like a pre-season friendly for the first hour.
"Leicester get the goal from nowhere and then they are up. They can actually go on and win the game. I think that's a bit of a blow for [Tottenham]."
It would be unwise to put all your pre-season predictions on the evidence of one weekend but the early signs have been positive for Liverpool. Chelsea struggled, albeit against Manchester City, with the Raheem Sterling drama just another thing for the Blues to think about, while Manchester United beat Fulham but didn't look particularly convincing.
If step one for Neville to be proven right was the other teams getting drastically better, that doesn't look likely. It is now over to Liverpool to make sure step two — the Reds getting worse — doesn't happen either.
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