Gary Neville makes Liverpool prediction after late Fulham blow - 'Not going to'

Gary Neville believes Liverpool will secure a Champions League spot despite their 2-2 draw with Fulham, though the pundit warns the Reds won't match last season's levels

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

Gary Neville believes that Liverpool will still secure a Champions League spot this season, despite the Reds enduring a difficult and inconsistent Premier League campaign thus far.

On Sunday, Arne Slot's team was pegged back to a 2-2 draw with Fulham in stoppage time, after Cody Gakpo had momentarily appeared to have clinched victory for the away side.

Florian Wirtz equalized Harry Wilson's first-half breakthrough, but home substitute Harrison Reed delivered a stunning leveler in the seventh minute of added time. The Reds stay fourth in the standings, eight points adrift of Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Neville pondered Liverpool's campaign to date, sharing on his Sky Sports podcast: "Yeah, I was watching a bit of it in the truck, and Wirtz scored the equalizer and he was just on the edge of offside and he got the goal.

"The amount of times from me walking from the truck up to the gantry to Liverpool scoring in the last minute is unbelievable in these last couple of years. I got here, then my flash score comes up 2-1, and that little killer thing.

"A little bit of a dig isn't it, when Liverpool win late and then, all of a sudden, a Harrison Reed goal that's absolutely 'wow.' What a goal. I mean, I think Alisson is the absolute best and I haven't got anything negative to say about him.

"To beat him from there takes some doing and it was a special, special strike. Liverpool, they're not at their best, they're conceding goals still, still not quite right up front.

Harrison Reed celebrates after scoring Fulham's equalizer against Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

"They still look like they're going to finish in the Champions League places — they have good players up top. [Mohamed] Salah is going to come back, they're going to get there in terms of the Champions League spots, but they're not going to get near the levels of last season.

"They're not going to shock us and go on a great run in the second half of the season — I don't think — because they're still making quite a lot of errors and mistakes. Although at the end today, that was just an absolute gem from Harrison Reed."

On the other hand, Slot has hinted that no match is a sure-fire victory. Many times this season, Liverpool has suffered a late setback that has prevented it from winning more points.

"I think if you are not a part of Liverpool and you don't follow us every game then you think you win it," he commented during his post-match press conference.

"But unfortunately, I'm experiencing this for months now that the first chance the other team gets and the only chance they got in the first half led to a goal.

"That's one thing we usually see with us. The second thing we see a lot is that that the other team scores a goal you don't expect in extra time, so this is then a surprise."

Liverpool currently trails Premier League leaders Arsenal by 14 points ahead of their showdown on Thursday night at the Emirates Stadium. Aston Villa is in third spot, with Manchester City in second.

Liverpool.com says: The Reds are slightly fortunate that the teams below them are not consistent enough either. The overall standard of the Premier League this season seems to have dropped. Liverpool should comfortably make the top four spots from here, but it is not playing at the level of a team that a statement like that should be said about.