Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher name their Premier League predictions — but one relegation call stands out
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have both backed Arsenal to retain the Premier League title, but their agreement ends there. The two Sky Sports pundits have taken markedly different views on the clubs chasing the champions, the final European places and, most surprisingly, which teams they expect to be fighting for survival.
Their predictions came after the opening weekend of the 2026/27 campaign, when all 20 teams had finally taken to the pitch and the summer transfer window had entered its final week.
The opening round had already produced plenty to consider. Manchester United suffered a heavy defeat to Hull, while Tottenham were beaten by Brentford. Arsenal began their title defence with a convincing victory over Coventry, while Manchester City recovered from falling behind to beat Bournemouth.
Liverpool had to settle for a late 2-2 draw at Newcastle, and Chelsea eventually edged past Fulham 3-2 on Monday night.
With the first weekend complete, Neville and Carragher were asked to look beyond those early results and predict how the entire season might unfold.
Both Neville and Carragher expect Arsenal to win the title
There was at least one clear point of agreement: both pundits believe Arsenal will successfully defend their crown.
For Carragher, Manchester City were previously a potential challenger, but the departure of Rodri has changed his view. He believes City’s chances would have looked different had the midfielder remained at the club, but without him he cannot see Pep Guardiola’s former side winning the title.
Neville was even more emphatic about Arsenal’s prospects.
He believes the Gunners are already significantly ahead of their main rivals, pointing to the quality they possess in defence, midfield and attack.
Arsenal therefore remain the common choice at the top of both predictions.
Neville backs Chelsea to finish second
The biggest difference between the two forecasts comes immediately behind Arsenal.
Neville has Chelsea finishing second, ahead of Manchester City, and his reasoning is closely linked to their lack of European football.
The former Manchester United defender believes Chelsea could benefit enormously from having fewer matches, less travelling and more recovery time during the campaign.
He also pointed to the possibility of Enzo Fernandez remaining at Stamford Bridge, alongside Moises Caicedo in midfield and Chelsea’s attacking options.
Neville’s argument is that Chelsea could play around 45 matches, giving them considerably more free weeks than rivals competing across Europe. In his view, that could reduce both injury pressure and the mental fatigue associated with European competition.
As a result, he expects Chelsea to collect enough points to narrowly finish above Manchester City.
Gary Neville’s predicted top six
- Arsenal
- Chelsea
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Liverpool
- Brighton
Neville also identified Tottenham as a potential European contender.
At the other end of the table, he expects all three promoted clubs — Coventry, Hull and Ipswich — to suffer immediate relegation. Fulham are his additional team at risk of being dragged into the survival battle.
Carragher puts Manchester City second
Carragher sees the order differently.
He has Manchester City finishing second, with Chelsea third and Liverpool fourth.
Unlike Neville, Carragher does not believe Liverpool are capable of mounting a serious title challenge this season. He accepts that the club would want to be aiming higher, but believes their current situation makes a top-two finish unrealistic.
His top-four prediction is therefore:
- Arsenal
- Manchester City
- Chelsea
- Liverpool
Carragher places Manchester United fifth and Tottenham sixth.
The former Liverpool defender’s prediction creates another familiar split between the two pundits, with each backing his former club to finish ahead of the other’s.
Neville admitted he could not confidently separate Manchester United and Liverpool. He believes City are in a stronger position than United, but remains unconvinced by both clubs. Even so, he expects them to occupy fourth and fifth.
Carragher, meanwhile, believes Liverpool can finish fourth.
Sunderland become Carragher’s surprise relegation pick
The most striking prediction comes at the bottom of Carragher’s table.
He has Sunderland finishing in the relegation places despite their impressive first season back in the Premier League.
Sunderland finished seventh last season, a remarkable result on their return to the top flight, and that performance earned them a place in the Europa League.
Carragher believes that European football could become a major problem this time around.
The additional Thursday-to-Sunday schedule will place greater demands on Sunderland, and Carragher sees similarities between their situation and Sheffield United under Chris Wilder. That side enjoyed an excellent campaign after promotion and finished high in the table, but Carragher noted that many of their victories were narrow and their underlying numbers suggested they were closer to relegation trouble than the final position indicated.
He stressed that he was not describing Sunderland’s success as simply luck, but believes the statistical warning signs from last season make their European commitments particularly significant.
Carragher’s three relegation picks are:
- Ipswich
- Hull
- Sunderland
He also sees Crystal Palace as a club that could face a difficult campaign. Palace had a poor pre-season, lost their opening league match at Everton and remain involved in European competition while adjusting to a new manager and dealing with the loss of several players.
Neville also expects all three promoted clubs to go down
Neville has taken an equally pessimistic view of the newly promoted sides, but differs from Carragher over the third relegation spot.
He has Coventry, Hull and Ipswich all going straight back to the Championship.
Neville acknowledged that he would like to see one or two of the promoted clubs survive, but admitted that he does not have the same confidence in them that he had last season.
Hull’s opening victory over Manchester United has already provided an early reason to question that prediction, but Neville’s call was made with the full season in mind rather than one result.
Fulham are his other major relegation concern after their 3-2 defeat to Chelsea. Neville was particularly concerned by the way Fulham defended, pointing to their openness and the positioning of their young players.
Two pundits, very little agreement
The predictions underline just how differently Neville and Carragher view the 2026/27 Premier League season.
They agree that Arsenal are the team to beat, but then diverge sharply.
Neville sees Chelsea’s lack of European football as a major advantage and expects them to finish second. Carragher instead puts Manchester City in that position.
Neville narrowly favours Manchester United over Liverpool for fourth, while Carragher believes Liverpool will claim the final Champions League place.
Their relegation predictions are even further apart. Carragher has Sunderland going down alongside Ipswich and Hull, while Neville expects all three promoted clubs — Coventry, Hull and Ipswich — to return to the Championship immediately.
With the transfer window still open for less than a week, both acknowledge that their predictions could yet be affected by further squad changes. But with the first weekend already providing unexpected results, their calls have plenty of room to be tested over the months ahead.
Jamie Carragher’s Premier League predictions
1. Arsenal
2. Manchester City
3. Chelsea
4. Liverpool
5. Manchester United
6. Tottenham
European contender: Brentford
Relegated: Ipswich, Hull, Sunderland
Relegation risk: Crystal Palace
Carragher’s full predictions also include Erling Haaland as his choice for the Golden Boot, while he selected Mateus Fernandes as his impact signing and Liverpool defender Jeremy Jacquet as his player to watch. Neville chose Haaland as top scorer and Morgan Rogers as his player to watch.
