The England coach believes the Blues will edge out Manchester City to lift the crown, with United finishing third and Arsenal fourth.

He's tipped Liverpool to miss out on the top four altogether - and ruled out United becoming champions under Louis van Gaal.

Neville said: “Unless two or three players come in, I don’t think it’s realistic that he can win the league this year..

“Although there is a potential with what Liverpool did in the fact they had free weeks of Saturday to Saturday, continual perfect preparation. That’s a big advantage for United if they get on to some momentum.

CHAMPION: Gary Neville celebrates a Premier League win with Ryan Giggs [GETTY]

“In Chicharito [Javier Hernandez], Rooney, [Robin] van Persie and [Danny] Welbeck, they have still got, I think, probably the best strikers in the league as a pool.

“If they can get the back right and find a solution in midfield – [Michael] Carrick’s out for two or three months so they need to sign another top midfield player – and stay injury-free then they do have a chance.

“But I do think it would be a massive ask for Manchester United to win the league this year from where they have been, unless they sign two or three real stars and they all bed in immediately in the next few weeks.

“Van Gaal’s got the confidence to think he can win the league. You can’t turn around as Manchester United manager and say anything other than ‘our aspiration and ambition is to win the league’.”