Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville deliver discouraging verdicts on Liverpool's Premier League top-4 hopes

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and former Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville are in agreement over the Reds’ Premier League fate this season. The defender-turned-pundits have claimed that Jurgen Klopp’s side will fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2016.

The 19-time English champions have been out of sorts in the 2022-23 Premier League season. They have only picked up 29 points from 19 games and currently find themselves in ninth place in the league standings. Fourth-placed Manchester United have a 10-point advantage over them, albeit having played a game more.

On Sky Sports’ Monday Football, Carragher and Neville made their picks for this year’s Premier League top four. Both pundits picked Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United for the top three spots but disagreed over the fourth. While Neville backed Tottenham Hotspur to finish fourth, Carragher chose Newcastle United. Neither pundit expected the Reds to get into the top four.

When Neville asked whether or not Klopp’s team would make it this year, Carragher replied:

“No, I don't think Liverpool will get in the top four.”

Neville pointed out that the Merseysiders were “only” 10 points behind United with a game in hand. Carragher, however, remained unmoved, adding that his former side were not playing well enough to secure Champions League football.

“Only 10 points?” Carragher snapped.

“How many points before you say someone can't do something? My point is, you're talking about points difference and teams coming back to playing to where they were last season, Liverpool are not playing well enough... They won't get in the top four.”

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp takes aim at Chelsea’s spending under Todd Boehly

Premier League giants Chelsea have also struggled to find their footing in the Premier League this season. They are level on points with the Reds (29) but have an inferior goal difference (9 vs 1), causing them to slump to 10th place.

The Todd Boehly-owned Chelsea are trying to fix the situation by bringing in new players in January. They have signed Noni Madueke (£35 million), Mykhailo Mudryk (£88 million), Joao Felix (six-month loan, £9.7 million fee), Benoit Badiashile (£33.7 million), Andrey Santos (£11 million), and David Datro Fofana (£10 million) this month alone.

In a recent press conference, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp questioned Chelsea’s spending, claiming that no one knew how they were managing it. Explaining how transitions work, Klopp said (via The Mirror):

“There are obviously plenty of different ways you can do it, but it’s all based on the situation you are in, especially with the things happening around, Chelsea with the new ownership obviously, nobody knows exactly how they do it, how they can spend this much money.

“Other teams, nobody likes me talking about that... but transition needs time if you don’t have endless money, otherwise you can change overnight pretty much, bringing in 10 players.”

Liverpool, who crashed out of the EFL Cup last month, will take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, January 29.