FANS say Gary Neville is “never wrong” after his England squad prediction came true.

The Three Lions take on Brazil at Wembley on Saturday before taking on Belgium on Tuesday.

2

2

However, England boss Gareth Southgate will now have to make do without Arsenal star Bukayo Saka.

The 22-year-old arrived at camp with an injury and has now returned to the Gunners for rehabilitation ahead of his club’s upcoming title clash with Manchester City on March 31.

That’s a move that Manchester United and England legend Neville eerily predicted during the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky betwhich was filmed earlier this week.

He said: “I have a good feeling that Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice or Phil Foden will withdraw from the second match against England this break.”

Neville later added: “The Arsenal players may not withdraw from the games in England because they have had a few extra days of rest from not playing in the FA Cup.

“But there is a part of me that thinks they need to keep the momentum going and keep playing, especially when England have two games against strong opponents in Brazil and Belgium.

“I think Harry Kane might pull out the second game. He could play one game or make a deal.

“We refer to it because [Erling] Haaland and [Kevin] De Bruyne. I mentioned it a few weeks ago. I said there will be a withdrawal in March and straight away the two best players for City are out.”

BEST SIGN UP OFFERS FOR FREE BETTS FOR UK BOOKMAKER

Although Neville had predicted it would be the Belgium game that one of the Gunners’ big hitters would miss, fans were still impressed by how right he was.

One person posted on

“He knows ALL the tricks in the handbook for winning title races.”

Another wrote: “He’s been seen there 100 times. No one knows title races better than this man.”

While a third added: “He’s never wrong is he.”

Saka is not the only Arsenal player who will not be present in the match against England on Saturday. Gunners defender Gabriel has also withdrawn from the Brazil squad.

Neville was part of Roy Hodgson’s England staff for a number of years and explained why the March international break was always difficult.

He added: “Obviously I coached with Roy Hodgson for four years and when players pulled out knowing they were probably not injured you were furious. But that also happened during our lifetime.

“The clubs think: ‘We’re playing against the players, we’re having a clash and we can’t afford to lose them.’ “We have Champions League football and that’s huge for us. Or we get a title, quarter-finals or semi-finals of the Champions League.” And that’s why there is that push and pull.

“This friendly match in March is a bad one. It’s during a title run and Champions League games.

“As far as I’m concerned, this should be played again somewhere, because you’re really thinking about ‘club’ and not country.

“Country starts in about May, when the season is over and you have a tournament.”

MANCHESTER UNITED legend Roy Keane accused former teammate Gary Neville of “insulting” him during a heated debate.

The pair discussed which position is easiest to play on the field during an episode of the Stick to football podcast.

2

2

Ex-midfielder Keane argued: “Right back is the easiest position to play”, prompting Arsenal legend Ian Wright to agree, saying: “Yes, you can see everything, you can get on the pitch.”

But Neville, who played at right-back for both Man Utd and England, claimed: “I think that’s subjective, to be honest. Because I think if you play against a wide player who’s quick and has some skill, right back is not easy.”

The England star pointed to Keane and continued: “When you’re in midfield against players who can’t pass the ball…”

However, Keane quickly intervened and said: “Put it like this, I went to right-back, listen. I did a decent job for the team. I know we were strong. You couldn’t go into midfield and do what I was. ” doing.”

Wright went on to say: “Because it (playing right back) is easier to do! You’ve done brilliantly as a right back, but it was easier to do.”

Neville then joked: “I think my career has been ridiculed for 10 years,” before claiming that centre-forward or goalkeeper is the most difficult position.

But eventually, after a long discussion in which Neville suggested midfielders don’t run as much as full-backs, Keane said: “You’re insulting me a bit. I’ve got a few insults coming my way!”

After making his senior debut in 1992, Neville played more than 600 games for Man Utd.

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS

Meanwhile, Keane made 476 appearances for the Red Devils during his time at Old Trafford.

The pair also discussed how much Keane, who set United back £3.75million in 1993, would be worth in the current transfer market.

Neville argued: “What was Declan Rice? £100 million. You would be worth £100 million.”

And as Keane sipped his drink, he casually replied, “I thought so.”

GARY NEVILLE joked that Ian Wright’s FA Cup semi-final draw “didn’t feel right” after fans accused it of being “fixed”.

The draw took place at Old Trafford on Sunday, after Manchester United’s thrilling 4-3 win over Liverpool.

3

3

3

The Red Devils played Championship side Coventry, while holders Manchester City were paired with Chelsea.

But the manner of the draw sent many fans into a frenzy as Wright selected the balls in front of Roy Keane and Graeme Souness in the studio.

They remained seated as Wright rummaged around in the famous velvet bag before showing the numbers to the camera.

And the viewers were not told in advance which song belonged to which team.

The casual atmosphere was a far cry from most draws, which usually take place in a much more formal setting.

Teams were also drawn directly from the bag rather than first being placed in a hat as is traditionally the case.

And Manchester United legend Neville spoke about the bizarre format when speaking to Arsenal icon Wright during the latest edition of Stick to football.

He said: “That didn’t feel right at the end, you pulled it out like a Marks and Spencer bag.”

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS

Lioness legend Jill Scott then wondered why “nobody laughed” about Wright’s comment about shaking his “ball sack.”

Before the ex-Gunners man replied: “Do you know how many people went crazy over that?

“It’s only four balls. I think people were a bit upset about the fact that we didn’t know who was one, two, three and four.

“But the most important thing is that they are so strict on ‘don’t look in the bag, make sure the bag is closed properly before you open it so you don’t look’.

“People end up saying, ‘What’s he doing the Stevie Wonder for?’ I wasn’t doing Stevie Wonder, I was just making sure I wasn’t looking in so much [moves his head away] and it looked like Stevie Wonder.

“But I didn’t want people to say, ‘Ah, that draw was wrong.’

“People still slaughtered you, but I thought it was a great draw.”

There is no evidence that claims the draw has been fixed.

MICAH RICHARDS has risked upsetting some of his colleagues by revealing who he thinks is the best pundit on television.

The former Manchester City star left the pitch for the studio in 2019 and has since become a much-loved face on screens.

2

2

Richards, 35, has worked with various pundits at BBC’s Match of the Day, Sky Sports while covering the Premier League and at CBS Sports as part of the Champions League team.

He has shared the studio with the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Graeme Souness, Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy, Ian Wright and Thierry Henry.

But Richards is convinced Jamie Carragher is better than them all.

While discussing the popular, joke-filled style of CBS Sports’ Champions League coverage, he said The Athletics: “We have Carragher, the number 1 pundit in England.”

Carragher, 46, impresses viewers with his in-depth analysis of the Prem on Sky Sports, but takes a more relaxed approach on European nights at the American broadcaster.

Richards said, “He has to be kind of another Jamie on our show for the show to work.”

Carragher’s recent analysis of Manchester United made headlines when he criticized Erik ten Hag’s tactical setup as his side lost 2-1 to Fulham.

The Liverpool legend discovered problems with the team after just 20 seconds.

CHELTENHAM BETTING OFFERS – BEST FREE BETTS FOR THE FESTIVAL

Carragher claimed: “They defend like a team I’ve never seen before.”

It led to Ten Hag hitting back and labeling him biased.

FANS accused Gary Neville of being a secret Liverpool fan as he made a shocking comparison during Manchester City’s opening match at Anfield.

The Manchester United legend contrasted John Stones’ goal with Virgil van Dijk’s effort which was controversially ruled out in the Carabao Cup final last month.

3

3

But many viewers claimed the incidents were completely different.

Stones scored a clever corner from the quick-thinking Kevin de Bruyne at the near post in Sunday’s Premier League blockbuster.

But Sky Sports pundit Neville spotted Nathan Aké tangling with Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister in the center of the penalty area.

And he compared it to the most controversial talking point from the Wembley showpiece in February.

At that point, Van Dijk saw a goal cleared after Wataru Endo was ruled offside and interfered with play.

It was judged that Endo obstructed the movement of Chelsea player Levi Colwill.

And fans were left stunned when Neville compared the two moments.

One said: “Gary Neville is a real Liverpool fan these days! How is he calling for Ake to be fouled?”

3

CHELTENHAM BETTING OFFERS – BEST FREE BETTS FOR THE FESTIVAL

Another asked why he “brought up the cup final”.

That viewer added: “Endo’s block was never a foul, but he did intervene, and therefore offside. Ake on Mac Allister is absolutely standard for everything on a single set piece, and doesn’t come close to being a foul.”

A third observer wrote: “Gary Neville is all over here, comparing the block on Mac Allister to the one in the cup final, completely forgetting that the cup final was disallowed for being offside.”

A fourth wrote: “Why is Neville trying to create an ‘incident’ when Ake and Mac Allister are just leaning against each other?”

And a fifth said: “Neville really wanted a foul from Ake when it was Ake’s arm that was being held.”

But a few fans disagreed, with one insisting that Stones’ breakthrough goal ‘should have been awarded offside’.

Ironically, however, it was Mac Allister who equalized for Liverpool with a penalty after 51 minutes.

MANCHESTER UNITED has set up a special task force to investigate the possibilities for a new stadium.

Olympian Lord Sebastian Coe will chair the group and Gary Neville will provide advice as the club looks to revive Old Trafford.

1

MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: All the latest news from Old Trafford

THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT STORY..

The Sun is your destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, breathtaking pictures and can’t-miss videos.Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.

ROY KEANE has criticized Gary Neville for his use of ‘fancy words’ in the latest ‘Stick to Football’ podcast.

The weekly podcast brings together experts Neville, Keane, Ian Wright, Jill Scott and Jamie Carragher to discuss the week’s biggest football issues.

2

2

Of course, this week’s episode was dominated by Neville’s “Blue billion pound bottle jobs” comment about Chelsea losing the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool.

But in the lead-up, the hosts were talking about the difficulties of finding parking near the studio.

The conversation started when Wright jokingly criticized Marcel’s poor parking as “selfish” and “lazy”.

Carragher to say car parks would be a “major investment”.

That perked up the ears of Neville, who recently became a Dragon in the BBC show Dragon’s Den.

The former Manchester United right-back joined as an investor after his business success in real estate and as a hotelier.

Returning to Carragher’s investment comments, Neville said: “Oh yes, absolutely. Returning solid income.”

The business term seemed to infuriate Keane, who said: “Gary, we just said that! Why do you have to come up with a nicer word? That’s what we said!”

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS

Carragher agreed with his co-host, saying: “Yeah, why don’t you just say you’d make a few quid?”

That brought laughter from the rest of the cast and Neville said, “I’m not the poet laureate!”

It wasn’t the only time Marcel was criticized for his penchant for business talk on the show, with Wright also taking him to task for a LinkedIn post Marcel made in which he lamented the phrase “Hope you’re doing well.” as a waste of time.

MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: All the latest news from Old Trafford

GARY NEVILLE was praised by viewers as he returned to Dragons’ Den on Thursday night.

The Manchester United legend, 49, made his debut on the hit BBC show last month.

3

3

He has a £100 million empire that includes five-star hotels, restaurants, pubs and Salford City FC.

And in his second appearance on Dragons’ Den, he impressed people with his business acumen.

This included investing in the Myo Master brand, owned by husband and wife team Lottie Whyte and Joe Gray – a company that specializes in creating high-quality sports recovery solutions for athletes.

Ex-England rugby player Gray, who almost had his leg amputated as a teenager after suffering a rugby-related injury, and partner Whyte hit the big time when Neville and fellow Dragon Sara Davies split the £100,000 investment.

Commenting on Neville appearing on the show for the second time, one viewer said: “Whatever you may think of Gary Neville as an ex-professional and pundit, he is a remarkable guy.

‘Impressively thoughtful and sharp on Dragon’s Den. Businesses everywhere, philanthropic. A force of nature.’

Another added: “I thought Gary Neville was really good in Dragons’ Den.”

While a third replied: “Feels weird seeing Gary Neville on Dragons Den but he’s certainly made some business achievements and enjoys investing in sport.”

BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS

Meanwhile, others were confused as to why Neville was on the show.

One said: “Since when did Gary Neville become a dragon on Dragons’ Den?”

A second replied: “I never knew Gary Neville was a new Dragon on Dragons’ Den.”

And another agreed, adding: “What is Gary Neville doing on Dragons’ Den?”

During his first appearance on the programme, Marcel fought back tears as he made an offer to a Manchester City fan.

He was also dug up by an entrepreneur who made a joke about his expert.

3

MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: All the latest news from Old Trafford

GARY NEVILLE had his Chelsea rant interrupted by Dave Jones live on Sky Sports.

The Manchester United icon was in full swing when he was cut off by Jones, who was hosting Monday Night Football.

9

9

9

9

9

Neville discussed Chelsea’s shortcomings during their 1-0 Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

But as he tried to get his point across, colleague Jones was forced to interrupt him to keep the show down.

The MNF presenter said: “Gary, thank you…” before Neville quickly joked to him: “Thanks Dave” and shot a thumbs up to the screen in the studio.

The 49-year-old then hilariously turned away from the camera, leaving Jones laughing alongside Jamie Carragher and Gael Clichy who were in the studio with him.

Neville had discussed his comments about Chelsea’s last-minute cup final heartbreak, describing Mauricio Pochettino’s team as “billion-pound bottle jobs”.

But the usually honest pundit admitted he actually felt some regret over his harsh words following Virgil Van Dijk’s Wembley winner, saying: “I feel bad now”.

Although he reiterated that he was still extremely frustrated with Chelsea’s tactics, which saw them toppled by an inexperienced Liverpool team flooded with academy graduates.

He said: “If you hear my comments during extra time, I got angrier at Chelsea from the first minute until two minutes to go. [when Liverpool scored].

BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS

“I could smell Chelsea’s fear from the very first minute of extra time, when I said: ‘Why are they getting rid of them? Why are they allowing these young boys to grow’.”

He added: “Maybe bottle is a very strong word, but [they were] playing with absolute fear, freezing.

“Whatever you want to call it, that’s what we saw in overtime and ultimately I don’t want that tag to stick with them.”

Neville even admitted that there was a point during extra time where he no longer knew who some of the players on the pitch were for Liverpool.

He said: “They made those changes and I took off my headphones, put down my microphone and said, ‘Carra, I have no idea who’s playing for Liverpool here!’

“There are three or four players and I don’t even know who they are.”

Jamie Carragher made it clear that if Chelsea want to shake off the nickname given to them by his pundit friend, they need to start lifting some silverware.

He said: “Billion pound bottle jobs, it’s a great line. And unfortunately for Chelsea, whether they like it or not, that line will stay with them until they win something big.”

There has been plenty of criticism elsewhere of Neville’s sharp words, with the likes of Gary Lineker and Ally McCoist speaking out against his criticism of the Blues.

9

9

McCoist told TalkSPORT: “I think [calling Chelsea bottle jobs] is not fair. It’s strong.

“They could have won it. I think it is extremely strong and wrong to call them bottle jobs, but they do deserve criticism.”

While Lineker agreed when speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast.

He said: “I thought it was a bit strong. They could have easily won that game.

“I thought Cole Palmer could have won the game, but it was a brilliant save from Kelleher.”

Chelsea boss Pochettino also made his feelings clear about the criticism of his team.

After the 1-0 defeat he said: “I have a good relationship with Gary and I don’t know if I can take this view that way. But I respect his opinion.

“Of course we made a few changes [Conor] Gallagher and [Ben] Chillwell in extra time, it’s true that we didn’t keep the energy of how we finished the second half.

“But I am certainly proud. I am proud of the players, I think they have made a great effort.

“We are a young team and nothing compares to Liverpool [just] because they were also done with a few young players. I think it’s impossible [to compare the two sides].

“He [Neville] know that the dynamics are completely different. I don’t think it’s fair to talk like this when he says so.”

9

9

MAURICIO POCHETTINO hit back at Gary Neville’s ‘billion pound blue bottle jobs’ after his megabucks Chelsea lost to Liverpool’s kids in the Carabao Cup final.

The Blues – who spent more than £1billion on players during the Todd Boehly era – were undone by Virgil van Dijk’s header with two minutes of added time remaining.

3

3

That was despite Liverpool having rookies Jayden Danns (18), Bobby Clark (19) and James McConnell (also 19) on the pitch towards the end of the match.

It led to Marcel’s bottlejobs in commentary, which Poch branded “unfair”.

The Argentinian said: “I didn’t hear what he said, but if you compare the ages of the two groups, I think it’s similar.

“I have a good relationship with Gary and I don’t know if I can take this view that way. But I respect his opinion.

“Obviously we made a few changes to (Conor) Gallagher and (Ben) Chilwell in extra time.

“But it is true that we did not maintain the energy of how we ended the second half.

“I don’t know how to describe this situation. But I am certainly proud. I am proud of the players, I think they have made a great effort.

“We are a young team and (it’s) nothing compared to Liverpool (just) because they ended up with a few young players as well. I think it’s impossible (to compare the two sides).

3

HOW TO GET FREE BETTS ON FOOTBALL

“He (Neville) knows, he knows the dynamic is completely different.

“I don’t think it’s fair to talk like this when he says that.

“But I think we will remain strong and believe in this project and see what we can do in the future.”

Chelsea’s team at the end of the match may have cost the world and there were no teenagers in it, but ironically the average age of 22.6 was younger than Liverpool’s 24.1.

The defeat continued Pochettino’s long wait for a trophy in English football, having lost the 2015 League Cup final to Chelsea and the 2019 Champions League final to Liverpool during his five-year reign at Tottenham.

They can still win the FA Cup this season and face old rivals Leeds in the fifth round on Wednesday, but have dropped to 11th in the Premier League.

Former Southampton boss Pochettino said there was still plenty of time for his youngsters to win silverware, but the same cannot be said for himself.

The 51-year-old, who won the Ligue Un in 2022 as Paris Saint-Germain boss, added: “My emotions, they are the same as those of the players.

The players have to feel the pain… We have to work more, we have to do better things.

Mauricio Pochettino

“I’m so disappointed, it’s so painful. I’m an older guy who has less time to win titles, they’re younger than me and they definitely have time.

“But in football it’s always about when you get the chance.

“Now we have to move forward. But the players have to feel the pain. We played for the trophy but we didn’t get it.

“They have to realize that we have to work more, that we have to do better things, that we have to improve.”

Pochettino urged his side to take inspiration from Jurgen Klopp’s side, who themselves lost major finals before eventually becoming series winners.

He added: “To compete at this level against a team that has been competing for big things for the last five, six, seven years, it’s about to get here first and then feel what it means to compete for to play a major trophy.

“I remember that after three or four years Liverpool lost the Champions League final, the Europa League final and they believed in the project.

“They were stronger in subsequent seasons until they got what they wanted. That’s a good example if we want to challenge a team like Liverpool.”