Gary Neville believes that Aymeric Laporte’s injury could cost Man City points while praising Liverpool’s start to the Premier League season.
The two contenders from last season appear to be pulling away from the chasing pack already this year, as they could produce another thrilling title race like the one we saw last season which went down to the wire.
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However, the key difference this time round is that Man City are seemingly being hit with injury blows, with Leroy Sane already ruled out for a significant period while Laporte was forced off with a knee injury at the weekend.
As per the Mirror, it’s suggested that he could require surgery having flown out to Barcelona for further assessment, and Neville believes that perhaps that would not only be a huge blow for Pep Guardiola’s side, but also a key factor in the title race swinging in Liverpool’s favour early on as he sees City dropping points as a result.
“If Laporte’s injury is a serious one, it is a big problem for City,” Neville said, as per Sky Sports. “I think this will cost City points. To be fair, there is no one better in the world at coaching than Pep Guardiola, full stop. And there is no one better at making what would be make-shift centre-backs play well.
“What I would say is that if Laporte is out for a long time, I think it will cost City points because he is a dominant centre-back.”
It’s difficult to disagree with Neville, especially as he went on to make the point about how big a loss it is for City to have lost former influential captain Vincent Kompany over the summer too.
Should they become slightly more vulnerable at the back, it could ask questions of them and result in many perhaps leaning towards Liverpool as favourites for the title.
Meanwhile, Neville was full of praise for Liverpool and believes that Jurgen Klopp’s side are showing ominous signs early on this season about their ability to go one better and win the title this time round.
“I was watching Liverpool at Burnley and I had that feeling,” he added.
“I said last year I thought they were a championship team. They are a championship team. They are playing at a level that could win the title. They are a title-winning team and they were last year, essentially with what they did.”
Time will tell how the situation plays out, but with the international break now in play, it gives the respective coaches and squads a chance to regroup before getting back to action.
