Gary Neville slammed for 'embarrassing' Liverpool commentary vs Arsenal

Liverpool hero John Aldridge has slammed Gary Neville for his commentary during the Reds’ draw with Arsenal on Sunday.

Arne Slot’s side came from behind twice at the Emirates Stadium to pick up a hard-fought draw in north London in their toughest test yet of their Premier League title credentials. The point leaves Liverpool a point behind Manchester City in the table, with the Gunners sitting a further four points back.

Despite a thrilling game, Neville came in for criticism from supporters for his commentary on Sky Sports. Fans bemoaned the former Manchester United captain’s perceived lack of enthusiasm for Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah’s goals compared to Arsenal’s strikes during the game.

• Arne Slot showed he's better than Erik ten Hag within minutes as huge Ruben Amorim problem clear

• Liverpool transfer news as player 'better than Cristiano Ronaldo' and Virgil van Dijk heir eyed

Writing in his column for the ECHO, Aldridge joined in the pile-on. “One of my biggest takeaways from Liverpool's draw with Arsenal at the weekend was how biased the coverage seemed to be towards Mikel Arteta's team,” the former Liverpool striker said.

“I was listening to Gary Neville on commentary for Sky Sports and he was just embarrassing. It was unbelievable how biased he was against Liverpool.”

Aldridge though did concede that he could understand why Neville might not have been thrilled by Liverpool’s comeback.

“Don't get me wrong, I would be exactly the same if I were commentating on a Manchester United game and I'm glad I don't have to do that,” he added.

“I actually think it’s probably a bit unfair that they ask him to do Liverpool games and it's the same for Jamie Carragher when he's asked to cover United, although I think he's less blatant with his bias. To me, it just doesn’t make sense to have people commentating on their direct rivals.

“The difference in the reaction to Bukayo Saka's goal and Mohamed Salah's late equaliser was so obvious and it just ruins it when you're watching on telly. It's not just Neville, though.

“I thought a lot of the coverage around the game seemed to favour Arsenal. The national media were going on like they were riddled with injuries but Saka and Jurrien Timber both played.

“Okay, they were without Martin Odegaard and William Saliba but we were without the best goalkeeper in the world in Alisson Becker and probably our best goal scorer in Diogo Jota, and nothing much was said about that. It felt a bit like excuses were being made for Arsenal. But they're a good side so going there and getting a point is never a bad thing.”

Liverpool.com says: Chances are Neville isn’t that bothered about the criticism coming his way at the moment. In fact, given some of the outlandish predictions he’s made about Liverpool, he seems to revel in winding up the Reds’ supporters. It would be good if he could try and hide his affinity for United a bit more when he’s commentating though.