Manchester United legend Gary Neville has poked fun at Liverpool by joking that Alexis Mac Allister is the best midfielder outside of the Premier League’s Big Six. Mac Allister was signed by the Reds in the summer as part of a major overhaul of their midfield.
Neville rarely misses an opportunity to wind up the fans of his former rivals. And he was given a gaping open goal during a Q&A session on social media this morning.
The ex-defender was asked to name who he thought was the best midfielder outside of the so-called Big Six in the Premier League. That would naturally exclude any players at Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal.
But Neville took the chance to get under the skin of Liverpool fans by naming one of their players – suggesting they are not among the top-flight’s elite clubs. “Mac Allister at Liverpool,” Neville cheekily responded to the question with a winking emoji.
Neville also took aim at United, claiming the football arm of the club lacks leadership. He also predicted his old club will finish a lowly sixth after a disappointing start to the campaign under Erik ten Hag.
Neville has backed Arsenal for the title and has previously said that Liverpool do not possess enough midfield strength to challenge the Gunners and Manchester City. “They’ve got an outstanding goalkeeper that I always think will keep them in a lot of football matches and they’ve got strikers that can score goals and lots of them,’ Neville told Sky Sports earlier this month.
“They’ve got a good forward line, the midfield its attacking, but has it got the defensive ability of what we’ve seen here today when Rodri comes back in and when you see Rice, Partey and Jorginho?
“Have they got that defensive stability? If you put Declan Rice in holding midfield or you put Rodri in there, I would be saying Liverpool would definitely be on for the title.
“My question mark is whether they’ve got enough solidity in midfield, enough defensive strength and power? I don’t think Liverpool will quite get there but they’re in the race there is no doubt because of their manager.
“The manager is absolutely outstanding, he’s one of the best but I think it will be Arsenal and City again coming towards the end.”
