Gary Lineker has admitted to getting his pre-season prediction horribly wrong for Liverpool, having claimed it would be ‘impossible’ for the Reds to win the Premier League in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

Liverpool heads into the first weekend of action in 2025 with a six-point lead at the top of the table, with Slot enjoying a sensational first six months since taking over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer.

In fact, the Reds are in an outstanding position on all fronts, with a place in the Champions League last-16 all but assured with two games still to go in the league phase, while a Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham awaits as their FA Cup campaign begins against Accrington Stanley this month.

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Halfway through the season then, Liverpool is in a great position to mark its new head coach’s first campaign with some silverware, which is a far cry from what many pundits predicted would happen before the start of the season.

Gary Neville’s is perhaps the most infamous, having tipped Manchester United to finish ahead of Liverpool, and even suggesting the Reds wouldn’t make the top four. The two sides are 23 points apart ahead of Sunday’s meeting at Anfield, with the Old Trafford club languishing down in 14th.

Lineker though has also had a bit of a shocker. The Match of the Day host was reminded of his prediction during the latest episode of the Rest is Football podcast.

“We all said top four. I did actually, I said ‘it’s impossible for them to win the league’,” Lineker said.

His admission was met with laughter from fellow host Micah Richards, who replied: “You idiot!”

Lineker responded: “But I don’t mind owning it. It’s okay.

“I can’t remember saying that. I think someone’s put this in the notes just to wind me up. Surely I didn’t say impossible. I think I said it’s an impossible act to follow Jurgen Klopp. Either way, it’s a hopeless failure from me.

“I’m pleased to be wrong because I honestly thought, like perhaps Arsenal with Arsene Wenger, like Manchester United with Sir Alex Ferguson, when someone’s been at a club so long, so dominant at that club, I just thought it would be incredibly difficult. But boy, oh boy, what a job Slot has done.”

Liverpool.com says: To be fair to Lineker, he’s far from the only one to have made a prediction like that about Liverpool this season. At least he didn’t go as far as Neville’s ridiculous shout.

The Reds are making more than a few people look a bit stupid, but we are only halfway through the season at the moment. There’s still a long way to go, but they’re in an unbelievable position to make Slot’s first season in charge one to remember.