Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has continued his war of words with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp over the club’s trophy ambitions this season.
Last week, Neville told The Times Liverpool should focus on their quest for the Premier League title this season, kicking the Champions League into touch.
Klopp hit back in response, telling reporters: “Gary should come over and tell me exactly how that would work. How do you prepare a game and not focus on it? You bring your kids in the Champions League? That would be funny!
“I don’t know what he means with that, to be honest. We have to play football. A lot of people watch our games when we play Champions League and that’s our job that we do the best we can do in all these games.
But, speaking during Sky Sports’ coverage of Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Neville expanded on his original comments, believing the Reds do not have enough quality past their attacking trio.
“The point I was making earlier on in the week I thought was a positive really, in the sense that probably in this time of the season over the last 28 years, I never felt that Liverpool had a strong chance of winning the league title,” he said.
“I do not think they have great depth behind that front three and the drop in quality behind that front three is big.
“My view is if they were to go on a long Champions League, League Cup or FA Cup run, that would put that Premier League title at risk because I’m not sure that front three would be able to play Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, week in, week out.
“Liverpool, obviously, have a great history with the Champions League and with the European Cup. But make no mistake about it, Liverpool FC need to win a Premier League title. And that would be a game changer for them.
“And I do genuinely think they have a chance and to give themselves the best possible chance, and to remove one of those risks would be to not have too many matches for their best XI.
“Because I do believe that with that best XI on the pitch week in, week out, they have an opportunity to do it.”
Liverpool’s next game will see them back in the Champions League, three months after losing in the final, as they face Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Liverpool’s record in all competitions last season
While Liverpool did reach the Champions League final last season, eventually losing 3-1 to Real Madrid, it did come after their hopes of other silverware had fallen away.
Manchester City ran away with the Premier League, dropping just 14 points all season, with Liverpool eventually finishing fourth after an end-of-season battle with Tottenham Hotspur at Chelsea.
But Liverpool fell early in the two domestic cup competitions, losing to Leicester City in the third round of the Carabao Cup and West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
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