Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher name their Premier League top six sides ahead of 2023-24 campaign
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have named their Premier League top six for the 2023-24 campaign, and there are some shocks.
The newest season of the English top flight kicks off this weekend with Manchester City gunning for an unprecedented four-peat. They won the league last season, finishing five points ahead of Arsenal. Meanwhile, Manchester United and Newcastle United finished in the top four, while Liverpool finished fifth, and Brighton & Hove Albion were sixth.
Neville and Carragher were given the opportunity to predict the top six for the upcoming season. Both reckon the title race could once again be between City and the Gunners.
No team has won the league four times in a row. It's for that reason Neville has surprisingly chosen Arsenal to win their first league title since 2004, saying on The Overlap:
"Just because of the three thing and never winning the fourth I am going to go with Arsenal to win the league. I'm going for Manchester City second. Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa."
The Red Devils icon insists Arsenal are currently the only credible challengers to City:
"Unless United, Chelsea or Liverpool do something miraculous in the next few months of the transfer window, Arsenal are the only team that could challenge City at this point in time."
Meanwhile, Carragher is leaning towards Pep Guardiola's treble winners retaining their title. He has also backed Chelsea to come back into European contention as well as Tottenham Hotspur:
"I'm going for Manchester City, then Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham."
The Gunners did finally get some form of redemption over last season's Premier League champions. They beat Guardiola's men in the Community Shield to head into the season with a win.
Neville and Carragher omit Newcastle United from Premier League top-six predictions
It's somewhat unsurprising that Neville and Carragher have backed their former clubs to round off the top four.
However, what's surprising is that they didn't include Newcastle United in their top six. The Magpies stunned the Premier League last season, finishing an impressive fourth.
Eddie Howe has made more additions to his squad ahead of their Champions League campaign. The Tyneside giants have lured Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, and Tino Livramento to St James' Park.
However, that hasn't been enough to convince the two Sky Sports pundits that Newcastle could finish in the top four once again. Both appear to be wary of the fact that they will be playing UEFA Champions League football which could impact their league performances.