Gary Neville believes Manchester United are closer to the title than Chelsea
Last Updated: March 1, 2021 4:00 pm
Red advantage
Speaking on his podcast after yesterday’s stalemate at Stamford Bridge, Gary Neville has provided his opinion on whether Manchester United or Chelsea are closer to the title.
In a game he referred to as a “coaches game”, with both sides likely to take positives from it, he suggested both teams still have some way to go to get back to winning titles, but are moving in the right direction.
He believes that both clubs are in transition and that neither is a title winning team yet, but he thinks United are closer, even after Chelsea’s major outlay on players last summer.
He said, “I think United are nearer, I think Chelsea have got some work to do in the defence. I think that there’s some maturity in their players in attack – Havertz, Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech, I think there are outstanding talents there, but they’ve all got to merge.”
Comparing them to United he said:
“I think Rashford is probably a little bit further ahead in his development; there’s also Cavani, Pogba, Fernandes, so I’d say United are just a touch further ahead, but they are in the league anyway, they’re six points in front. So that’s suggested by the league table. ”
Gap small
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 27: Thomas Tuchel the head coach / manager of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge on January 27, 2021 in London, United Kingdom. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Sam Bagnall – AMA/Getty Images)
He continued to suggest that it shouldn’t be too much for Chelsea to catch up.
“But it won’t take much from Chelsea’s point of view to get there, it’s whoever recruits better in the summer, which players develop more, and which managers can get the best out of the players. But I’d say that for United this season to finish second would be a huge advance on last season.”
“For Chelsea to get into the top four under Tuchel I think would be very good. And then they’ve both got to try and win another trophy if they can.”
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This article was edited by Tom Canton.
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| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 32 | 44 | 74 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 30 | 25 | 60 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 30 | 19 | 56 |
| 4 | Liverpool FC | 31 | 16 | 52 |
| 5 | West Ham United FC | 30 | 11 | 52 |
| 6 | Chelsea FC | 30 | 16 | 51 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 30 | 19 | 49 |
| 8 | Everton FC | 29 | 3 | 47 |
| 9 | Leeds United | 31 | 0 | 45 |
| 10 | Aston Villa FC | 30 | 10 | 44 |
| 11 | Arsenal FC | 30 | 5 | 42 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 31 | -10 | 38 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 30 | -16 | 38 |
| 14 | Southampton FC | 30 | -14 | 36 |
| 15 | Burnley FC | 30 | -16 | 33 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 30 | -5 | 32 |
| 17 | Newcastle United FC | 30 | -20 | 29 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 32 | -18 | 26 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 30 | -34 | 21 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 30 | -35 | 14 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 19 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 19 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 16 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 14 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 14 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 12 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 12 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 12 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 11 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 10 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 9 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 9 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick | Arsenal FC | 9 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 9 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 8 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 8 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 8 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 8 |
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 8 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 7 |
| Luiz, Douglas | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 8 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 0 | 7 |
| Xhaka, Granit | Arsenal FC | 1 | 6 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 7 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 7 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Targett, Matt | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 6 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 6 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 1 | 5 |
| McGoldrick, David | Sheffield United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 11 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 10 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 9 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 7 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 6 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 6 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Pereira, Matheus | West Bromwich Albion | 6 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 6 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Neto, Pedro | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 6 |
| Gross, Pascal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 6 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United FC | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
