Gary Neville believes that Manchester United can achieve a top-six finish in the Premier League this season under Ruben Amorim after their memorable win over Liverpool at Anfield.
The Red Devils won at the home of their fiercest rivals for the first time in 10 years on Sunday after Harry Maguire’s late header settled a pulsating affair in which Bryan Mbeumo’s early opener had been cancelled out by Cody Gakpo, who also hit the woodwork three times as Liverpool missed a number of glaring chances.
In addition to ending a decade-long wait to triumph at Anfield, the win also gave United back-to-back league successes for the first time this season following a 2-0 home victory over promoted Sunderland immediately before the international break and inflicted a fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions on the out-of-form champions - their worst run of form since November 2014 under Brendan Rodgers.
It helped to further ease the pressure on Amorim, who had been subject to sustained criticism following a disappointing start to the season and seen his Old Trafford future once again called into question despite the continued public backing of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who said earlier this month that the Portuguese needed three years to turns things around.
United legend Neville - who was on co-commentary duties for Sky Sports at Anfield - called the win over Liverpool a “turnaround game” to provide a “springboard” which they must capitalise on during a “huge” couple of weeks ahead, starting with Saturday’s visit of Brighton.
He went on to insist that United, now up into the top half of the Premier League table, have a squad capable of sealing a top-six finish and return to European football next term.
"They've just gone into the top half of the table, to ninth, and I think if they win next week, they've got to start thinking of pushing up the league," he said on the latest edition of the Gary Neville Podcast.
"Because they've got to get to a point whereby there's stability at the club, the only way there's going to be stability is through winning football matches.
"I think Manchester United have got a top-six squad, particularly when you know that they haven't got European football, and they haven't got the Carabao Cup now.
"If you look at the four or five players they've got up front in Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, Amad Diallo, and Bryan Mbeumo, Mason Mount, and Bruno Fernandes behind them.
“And then the centre-backs they've got - Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, they should be able to get a top-six finish with the free weeks out of that squad."
