Liverpool’s midfielders are not as good as Manchester United’s, according to former Manchester United defender Gary Neville. The pundit was speaking in a new episode of Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

The episode also featured former Red Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Jill Scott and Ian Wright. It is Neville’s comments that are likely to attract the most attention, though, particularly from Liverpool supporters, as he doubled down on what he said at the start of the season — that Klopp would swap his midfield for Erik ten Hag's.

“Liverpool didn’t have any midfield at the start of the season,” he said. “They had Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott at the club. They signed [Wataru] Endō — would you have swapped Endō for Casemiro and [Sofyan] Amrabat at the start of the season? This is a serious conversation about players at Manchester United, and what happens to them.”

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Neville undermined his claims for ‘serious conversation’ with what he said next though, comparing Liverpool and United players against each other. “You’d have taken [Mason] Mount over [Dominik] Szoboszlai, you’d have taken Casemiro or Amrabat over Endō,” Neville said. “You’d have taken [Bruno] Fernandes over [Alexis] Mac Allister. You’d have probably taken Kobbie Mainoo over Elliott, you might have taken [Scott] McTominay over Curtis Jones,” he added.

Some of these claims are not the most fanciful, but they also highlight the problem with judging players on past performance and not what they offer to their new club. For instance, many Liverpool supporters would’ve been pleased had the Reds signed Mason Mount last year — and he was of interest — whereas they may not have known as much about Szoboszlai. Endō has exceeded what were low expectations from the fanbase with his performances this season too.

From there, Neville’s logic falls away like wet cake. No Kopite who delighted in Liverpool’s 7-0 win over United last year would want Fernandes in their team. The Red Devils’ captain cut a petulant, disinterested figure that day, taking a swipe at Stefan Bajčetić and not bothering to track back when the Spaniard skipped past him.

Then we get to Mainoo versus Elliott. The United youngster is clearly a talent but he had played a total of 87 minutes of first-team football prior to this season. Elliott had 87 Liverpool games under his belt, Champions League goals against Ajax and Rangers, and an assist against United in the 7-0 thumping. No deal, Gary.

Neville saved the pièce de resistance for last: McTominay over Jones. Where do you start with that? It’s not that the Scot is a bad player, it’s the idea that you’d take him over a midfielder with the talent of Jones. It’s an absolute non-starter, much like McTominay has often been in the Premier League for a struggling United side this season.

There was at least an acknowledgment from Neville that the players would perform better for the Reds than they would for his beloved Red Devils. “If you gave Jürgen Klopp in a stable Liverpool that six, and swapped that five from Liverpool into Manchester United, what do you think would happen?” he pondered. “That’s my concern [that they’d be better at Liverpool]. Why is everyone dying on their feet at Old Trafford?”

A fair question, but not one that can entirely redeem the nonsensical comparison that preceded it. As much as Neville is entitled to his opinion, it’s not one to which Liverpool supporters should pay much attention.