Manchester United’s clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Super Sunday is of huge significance for opposing managers Michael Carrick and Arne Slot, according to Gary Neville.
Both sides appear on course for a top-five finish this season and with it qualification for the Champions League, with United three points clear of their rivals, while the gap to sixth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion now stands at 11 and eight points respectively with just four games left to play.
However, while a place in Europe’s premier club competition next season now seems assured for both teams – in fact, United would guarantee their place with a win against their arch rivals at the Theatre of Dreams – Sunday’s meeting is still of great importance to the two men in charge of each club.
Following victory over Brentford on Monday Night Football, United head coach Carrick has now overseen nine wins in 13 games since taking charge in January until the end of the campaign, with the Sky Sports pundit claiming on the Gary Neville podcast “he is more than likely to be” the club’s permanent manager next season.
Meanwhile, despite an underwhelming Premier League title defence, including 10 defeats, Slot has managed to guide Liverpool up to fourth place in the table and now within sight of next season’s Champions League.
As a result, the Dutchman is now expected to continue as Liverpool head coach next season, Sky Sports News understands, not that either man can afford a heavy defeat this weekend, according to Neville.
I don’t think either of them can afford an embarrassment on Sunday. A win for either would be very big.
“This is a massive game for the fans, first and foremost,” said the former United captain on the Gary Neville podcast.
“Manchester United and Liverpool, great rivalry. But I think this is massive for both managers. I think this is massive for Michael Carrick and big for Arne Slot.
“I don’t think either of them can afford an embarrassment on Sunday. A win for either would be very big. It would give them both confidence.
“Question marks of whether both are going to be at their clubs at the start of next season – is Michael going to get the job? Is Arne Slot going to be kept on? Those questions keep sort of appearing for the Liverpool manager.
“The game itself in terms of jeopardy of whether what’s at stake, I actually don’t think it’s that important for either team. I think they’ll both get into the Champions League.
“But for both managers, I think it’s a serious game, a serious game of basically seeing themselves against a big rival for next season, a big rival in terms of just generally United and Liverpool.
“The Michael Carrick and Arne Slot faceoff is the big thing about Sunday. I think it’s a bigger game for both managers than it actually is in terms of what’s at stake in terms of the positions in the league.”
As for the game itself, Neville has predicted a cagey affair at Old Trafford.
“If [Matheus] Cunha’s fit, I think he’ll go with Cunha, [Bryan] Mbeumo, Bruno Fernandes and [Benjamin] Sesko,” he added
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from the Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
“I think he’ll go for that four potentially. I’m not sure Amad [Diallo] will play.
“But I think you’ll see a more cautious, and you’ll certainly see a tighter, compact, more defensively focused Manchester United than you saw in that first half tonight [against Brentford].
“I don’t think he’ll start the five at the back. I don’t think he’ll go that far, that would be wrong and he won’t do that. Let’s be clear, he absolutely won’t.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Jamie Carragher admits that ‘from the noises he’s heard’, Arne Slot will remain at Liverpool next season.
“But I think he’ll definitely get them a lot more switched on defensively and say you’ve got to be a lot more compact and tight. And it will be a case of not making mistakes, not giving goals away. Let’s go and make Liverpool nervous.
“And Liverpool likewise will not want to basically be opened up, so it could be more of a game of chess on Sunday.
“Not quite as much as it was in the second half [against Brentford], but I just think it could be a bit more of a challenging, sort of a struggle of a game, where both managers are going to be quite cautious in the sense of not necessarily the teams that they pick, but the way in which they instruct them to go out there and be sort of defensively compact and solid.”
And with both sides now seemingly set for a top-five finish this season, Neville thinks a win for either manager this weekend could prove massive looking ahead to the following campaign.
“Honestly, I think Liverpool and Manchester United are in there,” he said. “I think it would be a massive shock [if they missed out on Champions League qualification].
“United are in there, for me. Liverpool, I’m 95 to 99 per cent certain that they’re going to be in the Champions League as well.
The Carrick and Slot faceoff is the big thing about Sunday – this one does feel very important for both of the coaches
“Look, they won’t be thinking that, neither managers nor the players will be thinking that, they think they’ve got to do the job, but to me now, I just don’t see the other teams winning the games that they have to win, and Liverpool dropping all the points that they would need to drop.
“It’s just a case of, is it a message towards next season, is it a message towards where each club is at? It has been a strange last few months for Liverpool, hasn’t it, in terms of where they’re at?
“So, if Arne Slot were to come here and win, it would be big for him, it would be very big for him. If Michael Carrick was to go and beat Arne Slot and see Liverpool off here, it would be massive.
Sunday 3rd May 2:30pm
Kick off 3:30pm
“Games are never about the managers, of course they’re not, they’re about the players, they’re about the fans, about the rivalry, but this one does feel very important for both of the coaches, and I’m looking forward to it for that.
“I wish there was more on the game, I wish it was a title decider, I wish it was all the other things, that there was some jeopardy involved, but I don’t think there will be.”