Is Liverpool’s trio of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino the greatest front three in Premier League history?
Not according to Gary Neville.
During a recent appearance on Sky Sports' The Football Show, Neville asserted his belief that Manchester United's former trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez is the best to ever play in the top flight.
"Tevez for a year with Rooney and Ronaldo was just breathtaking, it was out of this world," Neville said, per the Daily Mail. "Not just because of the quality of the players, but there was a selfish, horrible, nasty determination with those three.
"The best front three in the Premier League, you'll never beat those three for me."
- Thread settles Gerrard, Lampard or Scholes debate
- Ranking Liverpool's 'keepers of PL era
- Van Dijk's sublime defending vs Mbappe
They were together for just two seasons, in 2007/08 and 2008/09, but managed to win two Premier League titles as well as the Champions League.
Apparently they weren't better than Liverpool's current group, though.
A detailed Twitter thread posted by @K56100212K delves into the stats for both groups.
The conclusion is pretty scathing. “The only reason this is even a debate: Nostalgia,” writes @K56100212K.
In all competitions in the 07/08 and 08/09 seasons, Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez combined to contribute 202 goals for Man United.
That’s 25 fewer than the Liverpool group’s contribution in 17/18 and 18/19.
Salah, Mane and Firmino also have a higher percentage of their team’s goals (65.6%) than their Man United counterparts (61.7%).
We’ve picked out some of the best tweets.
Click HERE to read the thread in full.
Liverpool will be desperate to keep their attacking trio together for as long as possible, and Michael Owen believes it would benefit each of them to stay at Anfield.
“I just think this current three, a bit like the Liverpool team really, it just clicks," Owen told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“If you lifted individual players and put them into different teams within the Premier League would they be as good without each other?
“It is debatable and probably arguable that you would say no.”