Source: Daily_Mail
Neville insists a Manchester United win won't knock Liverpool out of title race
Gary Neville has insisted Liverpool won't be out of the title race, even if champions Manchester United win at Anfield in Sunday's Premier League showdown.
Liverpool are under pressure after suffering four league defeats already this season, but United stalwart Neville says it is still far too early to be making predictions over the destination of the league title.
'We cannot knock them out of the title race,' Neville said. 'Liverpool haven’t had the best start to the season, but even if we beat them it would be too early to write off their championship challenge.
'There are only nine games gone so it is far too early to talk about that. We say this every year at our club because we have the experience of going through it, but you can’t make any predictions at all until January or February. Any of the big four teams is capable of going on and winning six or seven matches on the trot and being back in it.'
Neville has dismissed any talk of revenge after Liverpool beat United twice this season, and insists he would be happy for the champions to lose both matches again if they went on to win another title.
He also believes that form counts for nothing when the two great rivals go head-to-head.
'These games are always a one-off,' he told the Times.
'The fact that they lost at home [to Lyons] in the Champions League this week and we won away [to CSKA Moscow] won’t really matter come Sunday.
'Liverpool may have beaten us twice in the league last season, but I wouldn’t say we’re looking for revenge. We know that anything can happen in these kind of games so the main thing is not losing.
'The most important thing is winning the league and we’re delighted that we won it last season. I suppose we’d rather lose both games again and win the league than beat Liverpool and not win the league.'
United equalled their bitter rivals by winning an 18th league title last season, and even though their performances have at times been patchy they have still put together a decent run of results over the opening two months of the campaign.
But their players will certainly have in mind their last meeting, when Liverpool won 4-1 at Old Trafford in March.
