Gary Neville has revealed he made a £5,000 wager with Jamie Carragher over who will come out on top between Manchester United or Liverpool during the 2024-25 season.

The ex-Man United defender stated that whoever's team finishes lower will have to make a £5,000 donation to charity. Earlier on Friday, Erik ten Hag's side got their 2024-25 campaign underway, sealing a late victory against Fulham.

New summer signing Joshua Zirkzee, who arrived at the club for £36.5million from Bologna earlier in July, tapped in a cross from Alejandro Garnacho, to seal the win.

While some players, including Bruno Fernandes, failed to impress Mail Sport's writers at Old Trafford this evening, it was on the whole a solid start to the season for United.

Yet, Gary Neville is still backing his old side to finish above their Merseyside rivals Liverpool this season.

Gary Neville has revealed he made a £5,000 wager with Jamie Carragher over who will come out on top between Manchester United or Liverpool this season

Addressing his co-pundit, Roy Keane, after the game, Neville said on Sky Sports: 'Roy, before the game you won't have seen it in the Sky Sports News cross that me and Cara [Carragher] had a £5,000 bet for charity that Liverpool would finish above United and United would finish above Liverpool.

'Whoever obviously loses, it then goes to charity.'

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Keane, known for his no-nonsense and straight-talking approach to punditry immediately shot down any chance of him too getting involved in the wager.

'Don't get me involved in that bet,' he replied.

Neville, though was eager to hear his thoughts on who he thought would finish higher in the Premier League this season out of United or Liverpool.

'Who do you think is going to win the bet though?' Neville pressed.

'I think, United,' Keane responded. But his comment prompted a fit of laughter from Carragher.

The ex-Man United midfielder then responded to clarify his statement: 'If they [United] stay fit, their star players...'

Ten Hag was presented with a variety of squad selection headaches last season after his side struggled through a variety of injuries, particularly to key defenders.

United went on to endure a torrid league season, finishing in their lowest position in the Premier League, eighth, since 1989-90. They would, however, go on to best Man City in the FA Cup final to win the coveted trophy.

Liverpool, meanwhile, finished third last season, dropping off the pace of both Man City and Arsenal, after dropping points to Everton and Aston Villa late in the season.

Arne Slot will now succeed Jurgen Klopp in the hot seat and he has some big boots to fill.

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Liverpool have also missed out on signing their top No 6 target, with Martin Zubiamendi rejecting a move to join the Anfield club.

It has prompted some to question how they will perform this season, but Slot has hit back at criticisms over his side's lack of signings.

‘I've said many times already, our squad is really strong – and it's not easy to find players who can help us or strengthen the squad. Zubimendi was one of them, to be fair, but he decided not to come. We go forward with the ones we have. We are in a good place.

‘In the background, Richard is trying to strengthen the squad as he can. Unfortunately, Zubimendi decided not to come. (We) did every effort and tried everything to bring him in but if a player doesn't want to come, it's obvious he's not coming.

‘At this moment the whole team has stayed together. We lost Joel Matip, Thiago and Adrian, but the rest of the team stayed together and that's a very positive thing. We are always talking here about transfers but it's positive that we have kept our players.

‘We are in a good place at the moment – Jurgen (Klopp) left the team in a good place and we are trying to build from there. Last season they won a trophy with this team – we are aiming for the same this season.’