Gary Neville reveals masterstrokes of management from Klopp, Guardiola in stunning title race

Gary Neville feels Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are ’empowering’ their respective squads after taking the gamble to secure wins for Liverpool and Manchester City in much-changed sides on Saturday.

The Premier League title rivals continued their titanic battle as Klopp’s men won 1-0 at Newcastle earlier in the day to go top, before City responded to return to the summit after a 4-0 romp at Leeds United.

Klopp and Guardiola both made five changes to their sides to freshen things up, with one eye on next week’s Champions League semi-final second legs.

And Neville feels they showed faith in the players coming in, giving them confidence that they can make a major impact in vitally important games in the run-in.

He told The Gary Neville Podcast on Sky Sports: “What Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are doing today is, they’re basically empowering the squad.

“You hear managers say ‘I’ve got a great squad’. But have you got the guts and the courage to really use that squad in big matches where you need to win?

“Where you know if you don’t win there is a large consequence, or you’re probably going to lose a league title, or you’re going to get knocked out of a European Cup competition. So to do it and then come out of it and win – you’ve empowered everybody.

“You’ve made everybody feel part of it. And the strength in that squad and the commitment of everybody means that you start to blend into the feeling of every three days, you know everyone’s had a game, no one feels like there’s a first eleven.

“It’s a real mistake to name your first eleven, then always play that first eleven in modern football, if you’re going to go for three and four trophies because you’re going to need those five and six and seven on the bench. And so to