Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester ahead of the clash Neville admitted he is disappointed to miss running out at his old stomping ground but insists it is Everton he wants to take the points.

He also revealed how he hated Manchester City growing up and ruled out ever joining the stuttering revolution over at Wastelands.

“Joining City is not something that will ever happen” he insisted. “When you have got red blood you cannot see yourself with blue blood. You go there and they have blue ketchup, it’s just like ‘What are they doing?’.

“I am not being disrespectful to City. I grew up a Red, hating Manchester City. When I go back with Everton I get absolutely slaughtered.

“It makes me laugh in a way because I understand what they are feeling. I think it is fantastic as it makes football special.”

You could argue that Liverpool’s title challenge was over before it had even started. They have rarely played like future champions and their results would certainly back that up.

Whilst Manchester United have strung together an eleven match winning run this season, Liverpool’s best run is a measly five wins on the trot. In all competitions they have managed to maintain a win rate of just 56 percent. You’re never going to win the Premiership with numbers like that!

Let’s pretend for a minute that Liverpool really did have a chance of winning the Premier League this season. If they did, they probably certainly don’t anymore, so when did it all go wrong?

January 9th 2009

On January 9th, Rafael Benitez held a press conference where the Spaniard unleashed an assault on Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

In his tirade, Benitez claimed Ferguson “is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished” and sarcastically suggested that in future, “Mr Ferguson organise the fixtures in his office and send it to everyone.”

At the time, Liverpool were top of the Premier League, on a three match winning run and looking to extend their lead at the top against Stoke City. Manchester United were chasing behind and scheduled to play Chelsea in a couple of days.

I’m guessing Rafa was trying to unsettle the United squad but boy did it backfire. Liverpool drew nil nil with Stoke and United beat an under par Chelsea 3 – 0. That game signaled the start of that eleven match unbeaten run I mentioned earlier.

And what happened to Liverpool? They began their slide down the table. First losing pole position to the Champions and today dropping to third after losing to Middlesbrough. Liverpool have played ten matches since Benitez’s rant and won just three times. They lost twice and drew five.

After today’s defeat, Liverpool remain seven points behind league leaders Manchester United who have a game in hand. Even if they were to win at Old Trafford (I can’t see it), winning the league would still take a monumental effort from the Liverpool players and a catastrophic collapse from United.

Even Benitez can see it that isn’t going to happen. Asked about Liverpool’s chances he said: “Before the game it was very difficult, now it is more difficult”. I suppose you can’t argue with his logic.

United are currently 12 points behind league leaders United who have a game in hand. By tomorrow, United could be sitting 15 points above Arsenal with only 13 games left. And with the current form of United, Wenger has resigned himself to another season without the Premier League crown. Arsenal have set more realistic targetsof Champions League qualification but are in serious danger of failing to qualify with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Chelsea currently occupying the Champions League positions.

“They (Man Utd) could be the new untouchables” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“We’re on a very strong run at the moment and we will give everything until the end of the season, but right now Manchester United look untouchable. Our basic target is to get the Champions League, but they will surely go for the title”

Beckham will officially become part of Milan’s playing squad in January but he will meet up with his teammates and begin training in December. Beckham is still contracted to LA Galaxy but in a bid to keep his fitness levels and be considered for England duty has opted to move to Serie A even if only for two months.

“He is coming in January and I think when he comes here, he will see what Milan is,” Kaka told Sky Sports News. “I think will want to stay a bit more, until the end of the season and who knows after that.”

Kaka is in England with Milan preparing for a UEFA cup clash with Portsmouth and whilst he proclaimed Beckham would want to stay, he also pointed out that one day, he wants to leave:

“I like very much the Premier League,” he said.

“It’s a very tough championship, but there are a lot of big players and a lot of big teams, so now I think it’s the best championship in the world.

“So, one day maybe, I don’t know when, but it would be great to play in England.”

So where would he go? I don’t imagine United would go in for him and I doubt Liverpool or Arsenal could afford him. Arsenal probably could but Arsene Wenger simply wouldn’t pay the money asked. That said, who knows if he’ll be managing Arsenal next season. Even Arsenal fans are beginning to ask questions.

With 3 of the big 4 rules out, that just leaves Chelsea who I am sure would love to sign Kaka but even more scary perhaps is the prospect of Kaka joining up with his national teammates down the road at City.

When asked about the prospect of joining Manchester City Kaka said: “I have a lot of friends that are playing there, so I watch some games. I speak with Robinho and Elano sometimes about Manchester City.”

Of those 19 years, Cole spent just under 6 of them at Manchester United, picking up 5 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cup wins, a Champions League winners medal and a League cup triumph. Cole signed for United in January 1995 for a then British record fee of £7 million – how times have changed – and went on to make 275 appearances for the club scoring 121 goals.

Although Andrew Cole has a raft of achievements to look back on, the way in which his career has ended has been a bit disappointing for him. In July 2008, Cole signed a 12 month contract at Nottingham Forest but after 11 appearances and no goals, Forest confirmed Cole’s contract had been cancelled by mutual consent which has led to the former International calling it a day on his playing career. Speaking for the first time about his decision, Cole told the Times about his frustration at the lack of first team opportunities at Forest and questioned the motivation in bringing him to the club.

“It’s not the ideal ending,” Cole said of his exit from Forest. “It just wasn’t working out. I told them from the outset that I didn’t want to go there to sit on the bench because I didn’t want to be perceived as sitting back and making easy money. I wanted to go there and offer something, but it was a strange one from the start. I never knew what my role was. Was it to lend a hand, use my experience, or was it a PR thing, to sell a few more season tickets? I still don’t know. I felt like the manager wouldn’t have a conversation with me. I don’t know if it’s the right word, but he seemed kind of intimidated by me.

“I wanted it to work out, but I was playing for 60 minutes and then getting taken off. Or sometimes I wasn’t getting picked at all. After a game at Preston, I said to myself: ‘You don’t play, then they give you an hour, then you get taken off. Is it really worth it?’ That was in September. I told him [Calderwood] then that I wanted to go and that I would serve three months’ notice if they wanted me to, which was in my contract. He said ‘no, give it another month’, which I was prepared to do, and then suddenly, a few weeks later, the club start putting it around that they’ve sacked me or that I’ve walked out.”

It’s a shame Cole’s career has ended this way but as he reflects on his career, he can take enormous pride with his record. Only Alan Shearer has scored more goals in the Premier League than Andrew Cole (260 to Cole’s 182) and with the next three on the list unlikely to increase their tallies (Thierry Henry, Robbie Fowler and Les Ferdinand) it seems Cole’s contribution to the game will be remembered for some time to come.

When you see the score line 5 – 1, you may be wondering how the England boo boys were out at all but the score line doesn’t reflect what was fast becoming a typical England display. Passing was slow, energy levels were low and the final ball was poor. England stuttered their way to half time with the scores level and Wembley crowd made their feelings clear as the home side were booed down the tunnel.

Capello made changes at half time and England came out in the preferred 4-4-2 formation having played the first half with what was supposed to be an attacking 4-3-3. After all the hype surrounding Theo Walcott, it was a game the young Arsenal forward will want to forget. His passing started off bad and got progressively worse as the game went on. He did at times show glimpses of talent but not nearly often enough and usually it ended with a misplaced pass anyway.

The breakthrough came early in the second half as Rio Ferdinand scored his third England goal thanks to some sloppy defending from a corner. The United defender barely had to move to nod the ball in at the back post. Wayne Rooney sheepishly claimed the second 13 minutes later when Frank Lampard put the ball into the box from a deep free kick and the ball was headed into the net. Rooney may have well have looked sheepish as replays clearly show the goal was put in by Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Kuchma.

At two nil, the game looked done and dusted until a lethargic pass from Ashley Cole split the England defence allowing the lively Zhambyl Kukeyev to dart in a shoot past a rooted David James.

The crowd at Wembley could not believe it and Cole became the focus of their attention from then on.

There was to be no comeback for Kazakhstan and in the 77th minute, Wes Brown picked the ball up from Walcott and hit a perfect ball into the unmarked Rooney. Rooney, who was named of the match, headed home for his 16th England goal which was shortly followed by his 17th as the United striker made it 5 goals in his last 4 appearances for club and country.

Substitute Jermaine Defoe completed the scoring in the last minute when Heskey put him through and the Portsmouth striker coolly slotted the ball home. Game over, England win 5 – 1. Happy days right? Wrong.

Before the game, Fabio Capello had urged fans not to boo the team but I think the ITV commentary team got it spot on when they said “it’s up to the team to excite the fans”. Instead of telling us not to boo the team, perhaps he should spend more time telling his team to play football.

Inevitably, England proved too strong for Kazakhstan but the result was never the issue in this game; it was the performance. Sadly for English football this performance was not good enough by a long way. Capello, Ferdinand, Lampard and Defoe (amongst others) have leapt to the defence of Cole and even gone so far as to criticise the fans for lambasting him for his “mistake”.

What Mr Capello and co need to remember is that fans are passionate and for too long have been asked to pay money to cheer and support a team which consistently under performs and regularly looks lacklustre. Cole’s mistake came shortly after England had been gifted a 2 goal lead despite putting in such a half arsed effort and the almost lazy way he went about it speaks volumes as to his commitment to the game. At 2 nil was he ready to go to sleep?

Does Ashley Cole deserve to be booed for one mistake? Of course not. Was Ashley Cole booed because of his one mistake? Again, of course not. Cole has demonstrated over the years pretty much everything people despise about modern day footballers; arrogance (his booking with Mike Riley), greed (when he realised he wasn’t a top earner at Arsenal) and disloyalty (courting Chelsea whilst at Arsenal, plus he cheated on his lovely and popular wife Cheryl Cole). With the state of the modern game and the continued disappointments of the national team, unfortunately for him, he will always be a target.

Hull City remain unbeaten in their debut season in the Premiership after a hard fought draw against Blackburn at Ewood Park. Hull went behind in the 38th minute when Jason Roberts coolly slotted home but within 2 minutes, Hull had equalised when Richard Garcia headed home when what looked like a far post cross dipped into the back of the net. There were very few chances after that and the game ended Blackburn 1 – 1 Hull.

Liverpool took on Middlesbrough at Anfield and when Mido opened the scoring in the 70th minute, it looked like it wasn’t going to be Liverpool’s day. But in the 86th minute, a thunderbolt from Jamie Carragher took a wicked deflection off Pogatetz and ended up in the back of the net. Liverpool would have been fortunate to escape with a draw but in the fourth minute of injury time, skipper Steven Gerrard does what he has done so many times and scored a screamer from just outside the box. Liverpool 2 – 1 Middlesbrough.

Stoke City lead three times at the Britannia Stadium against Aston Villa and after levelling the match twice, Aston Villa fell to an injury time winner from Sidibe giving the newly promoted side their first 3 points of the campaign. Stoke City 3 – 2 Aston Villa.

There was no space in the squad let alone the starting eleven for United target Dimitar Berbatov as Spurs succumbed to their second league defeat in as many games. Kieran Richardson scored a belter from outside the area in the 55th minute before Jenas tapped in the equaliser 18 minutes later. Spurs pushed for the winner but Sunderland new boy Cisse found himself unmarked to head home on 82 minutes giving the Black Cats all three points. Tottenham 1 – 2 Sunderland.

West Brom had the better of a slow first half as they took on Everton at The Hawthorns but were unable to capitalise on any of their chances. In Contrast, Everton made the most of their chances scoring 2 of their 3 shots on target through Osman (65th minute) and Yakubu (76th minute). The Baggies did mange to score from the spot late on but the game ended West Brom 1 – 2 Everton.

Fulham hosted Arsenal in the late kick off of the day and after an opening day defeat to Hull City, Arsenal were by far the bookies favourite. Hangeland put Fulham ahead after 20 minutes and a disappointing (depending on your perspective) Arsenal were unable to recover and the match ended Fulham 1 – 0 Arsenal.

Sunday 24th August

Chelsea travelled to Wigan and when Deco put the visitors ahead with a sublime free kick from the edge of the area, you would be forgiven for thinking this was going to be another rout. But Wigan regrouped and made it difficult for Chelsea and even probably had the better of the chances after that. Unfortunately, they couldn’t break through and the game ended Wigan 0 – 1 Chelsea.

Manchester City coasted to a 3 – 0 victory over West Ham as the Hammers effectively gifted the match to the home team. Noble was sent off in the 38th minute for a handball followed by a stupid sliding tackle and the ten men of West Ham never looked like they were going to compete. It took until the 65th minute for Sturridge to make the breakthrough and when they did, the flood gates almost opened. Elano scored a brace in 6 minutes to compound the misery for the Hammers as they went down without a single shot on target. Manchester City 3 – 0 West Ham.

Arsenal and West Brom was the first kick off of the day and when new signing Samir Nasri slotted home in the 4th minute you would be forgiven for thinking West Brom’s welcome to the Premiership wasn’t going to be pleasant. But West Brom refused to roll over and the match ended Arsenal 1 – 0 West Brom.

Newly promoted Stoke were up against Bolton and were 3 – 0 down by the interval. It took until injury time in the second half for Stoke to score a consolation goal, final score: Bolton 3 – 1 Stoke.

The final promoted team of the season Hull, met Fulham and were quickly one down to a glancing header by Seol Ki-Hyeon. Geovanni levelled the score in the 22nd minute before Folan grabbed the winner in the 81st minute to give Hull a win in their first ever Premier League match: Hull 2 – 1 Fulham.

Paul Ince started his Blackburn reign with a win as his team beat Everton 3 – 2 at Goodison Park. David Dunn put Blackburn in front in the 22nd minute before strikes from Mikel Arteta just before half time and Yakubu in the 64th minute left Rovers 2 – 1 down. Two minutes later, Santa Cruz levelled the game for Blackburn before an injury time winner from Ooijer gave Rovers the win they deserved. Everton 2 – 3 Blackburn.

Dimitar Berbatoz started on the bench for Tottenham when they took on an impressive Middlesbrough at the Riverside. It looked like it was heading for a goalless draw until the 71st minute when Weater put the home team in front. Mido scored a goal against his former club in the 86th to make it two and a late own goal from Robert Huth made the score line a little flattering for Spurs as it ended Middlesbrough 2 – 1 Tottenham.

The final 3pm kick off of the day saw Wigan make the trip to London in a match against West Ham. Dean Ashton struck twice in the opening 10 minutes in front of England boss Fabio Capello. The first half ended 2 – 0 and Wigan came out fighting after the break with an early strike from Amir Zaki giving Wigan a great chance. Ashton was taken off due to a claf problem and has subsequently been removed from the England squad. Despite their efforts, the Lactics couldn’t convert and the match ended West Ham 2 – 1 Wigan.

The final game of the day kicked off at 5:30pm where Liverpool struggled to break Sunderland down for 82 minutes in their match at the Stadium of Light. That was until a superb 20 yard strike from Fernando Torres beat Craig Gordon and it was enough to secure the three points as it ended Sunderland 0 – 1 Liverpool.

“Further to media reports, Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have made an offer to Real Madrid today (Thursday, August 7) for the transfer of Robinho.”

Robinho was already upset about being used as a potential make-weight in any Cristiano Ronaldo transfer and the club’s decision to refuse him permission to play in Brazil’s Olympic team only pushed the player further away from the club. The bid is reported to be around £20 million but I would expect that figure to rise before any transfer happens.

Madrid signed Rafael van der Vaart recently so they do have adequate cover in Ronbinho’s position although Madrid would surely have hoped to keep the highly rated forward with the club’s recent attempt to sign Ronaldo come crashing down at long last.

On one hand, it wouldn’t be so bad if Madrid were to lose one of football’s most highly rated young forwards, even if it were to Chelsea. On the other, if Real Madrid are short a winger come next summer, we all know where they’ll come looking.

Southampton have signed 21 year old goalkeeper Tommy Forecast from Tottenham for an undisclosed fee.