Gary Neville has been made to look foolish after five of his Premier League predictions backfired since he made them at the start of the season.
The Manchester United legend had been asked to name who he thought would win the league, finish in the top four, be overachievers, underachievers, finish as top scorer, be the standout young player and be the one to watch.
He named Manchester City as champions, a prediction on course to come true with Pep Guardiola’s men top of the league by six points.
Neville also predicted Liverpool, Chelsea and United to complete the top four, a scenario that can still happen with the former sides secure in the top three and the Red Devils in the hunt.
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But the former United captain will not want to look back on his other predictions, starting with Everton being the overachievers.
“I don’t like the idea of the ex-Liverpool manager going to Goodison Park. But I’ve got no doubt about what he’ll do as a performance,” Neville told Sky Sports in August.
“And I think he will make them have their best season for a long time. I think thy could do what West Ham and Leicester did and get up to that fifth or sixth position.
“He’ll get a lot of good results for them and I think that’s started already.”
Instead, Everton have had one of their worst-ever campaigns, sacked Rafa Benitez in January and are now just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
By contrast, Arsenal, who Neville predicted would underachieve, have impressed this term and currently occupy the final Champions League qualification place.
That goes totally against Neville’s belief in August that there was something missing about Mikel Arteta’s squad.
“At the moment, I worry about the make-up of the squad, it just doesn’t feel right. That’s not just because of the first two games, there’s something just not right,” he said.
“They’ve got a young coach as well who has got a massive job in front of him but I just think there’s something missing. It could be messy and scabby and a horrible little season.”
His decision to name Romelu Lukaku as top scorer has also backfired, with the Belgian currently just 36 th in standings with just five strikes.
Neville admittedly said that it was a three-way shootout between Mohamed Salah, who is leading the race for the golden boot, Lukaku and Harry Kane, who is fifth.
The prediction of Kai Havertz as the standout young talent also now looks to be a poor one, with the German having failed to live up to Neville’s billing.
“I think Havertz has gone up a level but I also think he’s in third gear, I think he’ll go up to fourth and actually fifth gear,” Neville said in August.
“I think he could become an absolutely great player. When he fills out into his body and he will do and he’ll get stronger and more powerful, he’s already a great runner.”
Instead of that, Havertz has struggled to stake a place in Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up, scoring just four goals and notching only two assists in the Premier League.
Raphael Varane, who Neville named as his one to watch, has also struggled for game-time, though that has been due to injury.
But even so, the Frenchman has failed to live up to Neville’s prediction of how he can build a partnership with Harry Maguire at United.
“I want to see how Varane does for Manchester United. Every United fan is. They’re intrigued to know how Varane, this great player, World Cup winner, numerous Champions Leagues,” he said.
“He’s been one of the best centre-back pairings in world football over the last five or six years with Ramos.
“To see how he can build a partnership with Maguire I think for me takes Paul Pogba off the one to watch.”
