Gary Neville proved right over Liverpool in Man Utd comparison as Arne Slot works magic

Few could’ve predicted Liverpool’s stellar start to the Premier League season, with Arne Slot’s side sitting pretty at the top of the table.

The Reds opened up a five-point gap over reigning champions Manchester City with their comfortable 2-0 triumph over Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday evening.

Goals either side of the break from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah capped off a perfect day’s work for Liverpool, who had been boosted by City’s second consecutive league defeat just hours earlier.

While Slot has been quick to bat any talk of a premature title challenge away, the ex-Feyenoord boss continues to wow in his new role as Liverpool boss.

It’s a job made all the more impressive considering Slot was ushered in to replace legendary manager Jurgen Klopp following the German’s successful nine-year stint.

There had been question marks over Slot’s credentials, with some suggestions he’d struggle to maintain the standard Klopp had set on Merseyside, in a similar way to how rivals Manchester United dropped off after Sir Alex Ferguson departed in 2013.

Instead, the opposite has proved true so far, with Liverpool looking just as good, if not in some parts better, under their new Dutch chief.

Liverpool’s stellar start to the season is unlikely to come as much of a surprise to Neville though, who claimed the six-time European champion’s overall sporting structure would likely prevent them from falling into disarray.

Speaking on Sky Sports in April 2024, Neville said: “We don’t know how that’s going to go. The reality of it is that we’ve seen the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal has been difficult.

“The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United has been difficult. Klopp is massive in Liverpool so they’ve got to try to get that right.”

He added: “What Manchester United and Arsenal had when they replaced those two managers was a quite traditional, old-school approach, where the managers ran the club.

“They didn’t really have a sporting department beneath them. They were the heads of the sporting department. They were the heads of recruitment, sporting director, manager and coach – all in one.

“Liverpool have a better setup, with more depth and more structure. There’s still going to be an element of risk replacing Klopp with anybody but it has to happen. Klopp is leaving.”

From Richard Hughes to Michael Edwards, Slot has certainly walked into an organisation that boasts some of football’s brightest minds, which has no doubt helped boost the 19-time English champions’ on-pitch performances.

But if Slot’s side can continue their current form, Liverpool will achieve something United have failed to do ever since Ferguson’s departure in their first post-Klopp campaign… win a Premier League title.