Jump directly to the content

Gary Neville might be feeling sheepish after a clip resurfaced where he claimed Manchester United had a better midfield than Liverpool.

The Red Devils were thrashed by Crystal Palace on Monday night in an embarrassing 4-0 drubbing with Erik ten Hag's midfield being overrun.

Casemiro had a miserable performance against Palace
3
Casemiro had a miserable performance against PalaceCredit: Getty

Casemiro had a nightmare at Selhurst Park, although on the night he was at centre-back, while Mason Mount and Christian Eriksen were largely anonymous alongside Kobbie Mainoo with Bruno Fernandes missing out through injury.

The performance exhibited all that is wrong at Old Trafford at the moment, particularly in the engine room, and Man United might have to undergo a major overhaul in the summer to replace some players.

And fans were quick to remind Neville of a claim of his earlier in the season when he was speaking about Liverpool's midfield.

Making a comparison, the Red Devils legend said: "When you look at the actual players, let's say United for example.

READ MORE ON MAN UNITED

"You got Fernandes, Mount, Casemiro, Eriksen. I think Jurgen Klopp would swap his midfield now for United's."

Fans were lapping up Neville's prediction with one saying: "Long live @GNev2 prophecies, especially when it comes to Utd."

Another joked: "Be fair though, he didn’t specify which United, he must have meant Hartlepool United."

While a third said: "Aged like milk this one."

Neville insisted Klopp would rather have United's midfield than Liverpool's at the start of the season
3
Neville insisted Klopp would rather have United's midfield than Liverpool's at the start of the season
Mac Allister has scored some vital goals for Liverpool in his debut season
3
Mac Allister has scored some vital goals for Liverpool in his debut seasonCredit: AFP

At the time, Liverpool's midfield had just been refurbished with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho leaving for Saudi Arabia.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and James Milner had also departed with Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo all joining.

Ally McCoist slams Manchester United after their 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace and answers whether Erik ten Hag should be sacked

While the Reds might not have the perfect midfield and have problems of their own, the players have certainly been better than those up the M62.

Liverpool sit third in the Premier League with Mac Allister standing out as a revelation under Klopp this season.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are languishing in eighth with their summer signing Mount struggling with injuries, making just five Premier League starts this season.

And talkSPORT pundit Mark Goldbridge believes that his club will need a major revamp in the summer.

He said: "I think that when you look at the changes INEOS are trying to make, what they cannot do is what everybody else has done and just replace the manager and try and get a tune out of this collection of players that clearly, year after year, capitulate and give up.

"So recruitment is massive, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, there's many others, they've absolutely mugged us off over the years. I mean you look at Casemiro last night, I thought he was brilliant last season, this year, terrible.

Read More on talkSPORT

"Real Madrid would've known that was coming, they knew with [Raphael] Varane that he was injury-prone. Bayern Munich knew with [Bastian] Schweinsteiger that his days were done, and it's just horrific recruitment.

"To be going to Crystal Palace as Manchester United but going as a huge underdog really does show where we are as a football club. Everybody phoning in saying, 'sack the manager,' we've been there, we've done that, it's a far bigger problem than that."

Topics