Rooney reveals his ‘suspicion’ over Liverpool’s top four chances as one rival will ‘fall short’

Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney has a “suspicion” that Liverpool will still get in the top four even after their 4-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

Liverpool’s top four hopes were dealt a blow over the weekend.

Later in the weekend, Newcastle United beat Man Utd 2-0 to move into the Champions League places.

The Magpies and Man Utd are now level on 50 points. They are a point clear of fifth-placed Tottenham and have played one game less.

meanwhile are down in eighth on 42 points. They will have to find some consistency before the end of the season to give themselves any chance of finishing fourth.

Rooney has backed Liverpool to end up in the top four as he thinks Newcastle will “fall just a little short”.

“The top four? A few weeks ago, there looked a possibility Manchester United could challenge for the Premier League title,” Rooney told Liverpool Echo.

“Erik ten Hag’s team fell short, but they could still end up with three trophies, and I’m sure will finish in the top four, then kick on after he buys a few players to strengthen in the summer.

“So Manchester United will be there but I have a suspicion that Liverpool might sneak into it, thanks to the quality of their squad and their experience. They’re capable of going on a run. I see Newcastle, despite the great job Eddie has done, falling just a little short.”

Speaking after Liverpool’s 4-1 loss, Gary Neville said Man City “really picked apart” their opponents.

“I thought Manchester City played very well… They really picked Liverpool apart although Liverpool went 1-0 up. I thought Liverpool in the first half-an-hour played well. When I say they played well, I don’t think they played well on the ball – they were scruffy on the ball,” he said on The Gary Neville podcast.

“The back four pushed up the pitch, Fabinho and Henderson, Salah and Gakpo kept really close together with Van Dijk and Konate which meant the City midfield players weren’t quite getting the joy.

“De Bruyne and Gundogan started to move wider a little bit which stretched Henderson and Fabinho and they didn’t know whether to go on to Stones or Rodri then they ended up a little bit in between.”