Gary Neville explains why Man Utd won’t break into the top two this season

Gary Neville is pessimistic about Manchester United’s chances of challenging Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title this season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had a superb second half to the last campaign, and ended up finishing in a highly respectable third place, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League and FA Cup.

There are hopes from some supporters that they can kick on and challenge for major honours in the near future, and they have a good chance of getting off to a winning start when they host Crystal Palace on Saturday in their first game of the season.

But speaking to Sky Sports, their former defender Neville has poured cold water over their chances of winning a first Premier League title since 2013 due to the fact that they have not strengthened their squad enough this summer.

“I think Manchester United are in a similar position to Chelsea,” Neville said. “They’ve got to make progression from last season, and I don’t have that expectation as a United fan that they’re going to break that top two this season.

“I don’t feel they’re quite ready but they have to make sure that gap is smaller. The have to make sure they close the gap on the top two and make sure they’re progressing.”

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Neville also identified three areas of the team that he feels they must improve before they can be considered at the same level as Liverpool and City.

“A striker, a right winger and a centre-half is a must,” he added. “At some point in the next couple of years, Manchester United and Chelsea need to be ready to strike when Manchester City and Liverpool drop below that standard.

“That’s probably going to be when Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp leave.”