Gary Neville has already done the one thing he said he never would after Liverpool and Man United change

Gary Neville has again contradicted his mantra of always sticking to his predictions after his latest claim over where Manchester United will finish in the Premier League this season.

The former Red Devils defender backed his boyhood club to finish third in the table ahead of a ball being kicked, selecting Erik ten Hag's to behind Manchester City and Arsenal but ahead of Liverpool in fourth.

It has been a far from perfect start for Erik ten Hag's side, however, who have already suffered four league defeats and trail leaders Tottenham Hotspur by eight points at this early stage.

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Liverpool by contrast have outperformed how many envisaged they would start this campaign and remain in the hunt for the title after nine matches played. Neville admitted at the start of this month, the Reds had taken him by surprise but he countered he would be not be changing his mind over his initial fourth-placed prediction.

"I'm not changing my predictions by the way for those of you who think I'm flip-flopping, I always keep my predictions the same," said the Sky Sports pundit on the Gary Neville Podcast. He added: "But off what I've seen in eight to 10 weeks, Manchester United are a lot worse than I thought they were, Tottenham are a lot better than I thought they were, Liverpool are better than I thought they would be. That's probably the same as most people. I don't think Manchester United will finish in the top five this season, I just don't. I think they're way off it. I'm surprised because seven or eight weeks ago, I had them [to finish] third again."

After rejecting