'They owe him' - Gary Neville makes Mohamed Salah claim and Liverpool title prediction

Gary Neville believes Liverpool "owe" Mohamed Salah to still be in the Premier League title race when he returns from Africa Cup of Nations action with Egypt.

And the Sky Sports pundit believes the Reds now have a "real chance" of winning the championship for the second time under manager Jurgen Klopp.

Salah scored twice to fire Liverpool to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Newcastle United at Anfield on Monday that ensured they moved three points clear at the summit.

And speaking after the match, Neville said on his own podcast: "“Before the game we did a piece about Liverpool having three world-class players in Alisson (Becker), (Virgil) Van Dijk and Salah. Van Dijk has been back to his best this past month or two, Liverpool’s defensive record has been good, they've kept a lot of clean sheets, and Alisson is the best goalkeeper in the world.

“And they've got someone who hits numbers from a wide area and is so consistent. He delivers year in, year out - it's unbelievable, really. If they keep those three fit, there's a massive chance, but with Salah going away for a month, it does damage them.

"When Jurgen Klopp first came to Liverpool I really liked watching them. They were really frantic, loads of pressing, it was fast, and sometimes you didn't know quite what was happening - I'm not sure the players on the pitch did. It lacked a little bit of composure, but it was really exciting - heavy metal football he (Klopp) called it when he was at (Borussia) Dortmund. Then it became smooth along with that electricity, they became a wonderful team, going head to head with Man City, they won the Premier League title and the Champions League title.

"Now a lot of those players have left and they're in a transitional period like