Gary Neville makes Liverpool Champions League prediction after watching Man City game

Liverpool is trailing Manchester United by five points and Chelsea by four in the race for the Champions League spots, with another defeat coming against Man City

Gary Neville on his Sky Sports podcast.(Image: Sky Sports // YouTube)

Gary Neville still believes Liverpool will finish inside the Champions League places this season, even with the gap to Manchester United and Chelsea having extended this weekend.

Dominik Szoboszlai put the Reds in front against Manchester City before goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland turned things around. It means Arne Slot's men have now lost eight games in the Premier League in total with 13 more to play.

"That will be a tough take for Slot and his players," Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. "However, if they can somehow compartmentalize it to a bit of a freak game, which it was, they will still be fine.

"If they can put it in a box and not let it infect in here (points to his head), it is whether they are strong enough right now mentally to be able to cope with games every three days when challenging fixtures don't go their way.

"They are five points behind the top four or five. It's not a big gap; there is a long way to go and they will have to play most of the teams above them, so they have loads of opportunities.

"But there is a question mark over Liverpool. There is a question mark over whether they will finish in the Champions League places, but I still think they will.

Arne Slot reacts during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City.(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

"What they have to do is box that up very quickly and chuck it in a corner and forget about it. Not good enough first half, but they kept a clean sheet. Second half, dominated and got the goal and should have seen it home.

"The two goals they conceded... the second one is not like Alisson. He's a great goalkeeper and he usually reads situations really well. For him to clatter through and hit the player, that is not like him.

"The first one is just a flick-on. It's innocuous, really. Szoboszlai was a little bit deeper, but it can happen. Some will say it is happening far too often and something's wrong, but I think they just need to try and compose themselves if they can.

"They have got a lot of experience with Alisson, Mac Allister, Van Dijk, Salah, Gravenberch. They have players who know what to do, so can they hold it together and keep on going?

"If you want to show that you're not going to be impacted by today, go and win at Sunderland which will be a tough place to go. Go and win there emphatically and be professional.

"That's where everyone needs to look now for Liverpool. It will be tough in there. The dressing room will be really low."

Liverpool.com says: It is going to be a real battle for the Reds to make the top four or five spots. It's still possible, of course, but Manchester United has a major advantage in that it is only playing once per week.

Chelsea might be the team to lock eyes on but Liverpool will need to improve to have any hope. From somewhere, it needs to find some consistency and put together a convincing run.