Gary Neville has thrown cold water on Liverpool’s hopes of a famous treble in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.
The Reds are 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League and within touching distance of the title after Arsenal drew with Manchester United on Sunday.
Liverpool strengthened their stranglehold on the title race by coming from behind to beat Southampton and can now turn their attention to the Carabao Cup final.
Sunday’s final at Wembley is Slot’s first direct crack at silverware since taking over from Jurgen Klopp last summer and Neville believes the Reds will have too much for Newcastle United.
With the Premier League all but sewn up, an 11th League Cup win for Liverpool would be the first part of an emphatic domestic double.
Newcastle have other plans but Neville’s prediction takes into account some significant personnel issues facing Magpies boss Eddie Howe.
Anthony Gordon is suspended after he was sent off against Brighton in the FA Cup. Lewis Hall is out for the season, joining other long-term absentees on the sidelines.
But former Man Utd defender Neville is unconvinced by Liverpool’s ability to turn two trophies into three and expects the Champions League to be a competition too far.
Liverpool have a 1-0 aggregate lead going into Tuesday night’s Champions League Round of 16 second leg against PSG but Neville believes even an exit in this round is possible.
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Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville said: “Liverpool have got [the Premier League] in the bag. I think they will win it in April.
“The Champions League is a different story, it can be over in a one-off game. I’m not quite sure I see them wining it – you can never write them off obviously – but I don’t quite see it.
“It wouldn’t surprise me actually if they went out this week. It’s a 50-50 game for me, either team could easily win, PSG are a good side.”
Liverpool have shown no more sign of slowing down in the Champions League than they have domestically. Their first leg win was inspired by goalkeeper Alisson but puts them in a strong position ahead of the home leg.
But they cruised through the league phase, winning seven of their eight matches to finish top of the mega-table, and remain among the favourites.
If Liverpool knock out PSG this week, a quarter-final tie against Aston Villa or Club Brugge will be next.
Neville is correct that it can all go wrong in 90 minutes but the Reds will be fancied to reach the semi-final. Villa have a 3-1 lead after the first leg of their tie but haven’t beaten Liverpool since a 7-2 win behind closed doors in October 2020.
The Reds will fancy themselves to reach the last four at least and after that, it’s anyone’s game.
Slot’s treble hopes do rely on Liverpool holding their nerve in a series of knockout matches and Newcastle might be as big a threat as anyone.
