That's right, you are not mistaken . It was indeed the very same Gary Neville who just a couple of weeks ago declared that not only would Manchester United finish inside the Champions League places, but that Liverpool might not make the top six.
Three games into the new season, anyone who agreed with him might as well accept defeat. It was a prediction seemingly as futile as Casemiro's first-half performance at Old Trafford; a statement, frankly, of lunacy.
That was clear at the time but having witnessed first-hand what was a statement performance to ignite the Arne Slot era by Liverpool , even Neville himself might have to reluctantly concede. And we're little more than a day into September.
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From back to front, Liverpool was a level above Manchester United . But the truth is, the only real difference between last season's meetings between the pair and this year's editions was the clinical first 45 minutes.
Back in April, Liverpool missed a hatful of chances in the opening half an hour on the same ground and was ultimately punished. This time around, Luis Diaz had other ideas and Mohamed Salah made it 10 goals away at Manchester United in his last seven appearances with a second-half strike that sealed the result.
Ten Hag has made some decent-looking signings this summer but Matthijs de Ligt was left on his backside by Diaz and Ryan Gravenberch to name just two players and Joshua Zirkzee's impact was minimal. As Roy Keane damningly said at full-time, Erik ten Hag is repeating the same mistakes as last year.
It speaks volumes that those comments arrive even before the first international break of 2024/25. And yet with the same coach in charge and a minimally improved playing squad, what might you expect?
That was clear to most ahead of the new season beginning, though. Liverpool has not got worse under Slot and there are elements of the Reds' game that already look more balanced than under Jurgen Klopp .
For there to be any true comparison, that has to last more than 270 minutes of Premier League action — but it's not a bad start. You can only beat what is in front of you, even if it doesn't amount to much.
The idea that Liverpool would be in any danger of crashing out of the European spots, however, is fanciful. Three games in, we have reached the September international break with Alisson Becker yet to concede a goal.
With Neville already wrong and Keane's typically frank assessment of Manchester United telling you everything you need to know about the state of the Old Trafford side, Liverpool can kick on. It proved on Sunday that Slot's side doesn't have to worry about being overtaken by Ten Hag's. In fact, it is only looking up the table, and not down.
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