Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher boldly endorsed the Reds to win back-to-back titles, but Manchester United great Gary Neville raised some qualms about the forecast.
Gary Neville believes Jamie Carragher’s forecast that Liverpool would win the Premier League this season and retain the title next year is a brave one, given the unclear futures of several of the Reds’ key players.
Liverpool is on track to win its second league title in six seasons after taking a commanding lead at the top of the standings with just over a quarter of the season remaining.
Carragher predicted that his previous club would win back-to-back league titles in 2025-26, citing the team’s form. He told The Overlap US: “Next season, for the first time, I believe Liverpool will win the league at the start of the season. I truly believe Liverpool will win it again. Arne Slot will be considerably more familiar with those players than he was a year ago, and he will be aware of the squad’s limitations.
“I’m excited that he’ll want to improve the squad as well. It’s fantastic to be equal with United, but I believe Liverpool has a huge opportunity to kick on again under Slot this summer. I think there is a real possibility for Liverpool to go past United in league titles.”
However, Neville believes that a lot will depend on if the club can keep players like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk beyond the conclusion of the season.
Salah, Van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all poised to become free agents on July 1 as things stand, and all three have been critical to the team’s recent success.
“I think there is a massive caveat on that,” Neville said in response to Carragher’s prediction. “If Salah and Van Dijk leave, you’re not talking like that. If they stay, I agree with Carra that Liverpool would be in a great position to strengthen. But even if Van Dijk was to go, that is a huge hole to fill.”
Carragher, on the other hand, is convinced Salah and Van Dijk will renew their contracts, saying: “I just can’t envisage a scenario in which those two players aren’t wearing red next season. I don’t see how anyone benefits from it. It would be a nightmare for Liverpool, as we are talking about two of the club’s best players of all time. They’re certainly in the top five or six of all-time red shirt wearers.”
