Liverpool will be "hard to stop" next season, but Manchester City and Arsenal will both raise their levels after a summer of transfer spending. That is the view of former England ace and soccer pundit Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The former Chelsea and Manchester City winger believes that Liverpool is well placed to kick on again under Arne Slot, who took over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024. After a seamless transition that ended in a Premier League title victory, the Reds are undergoing a period of rejuvenation among its roster with a move for Florian Wirtz nearing.
"I don’t think that it’s definitely going to be harder for Arne Slot because now this is his own team, and that he’s not borrowing so much from Jurgen Klopp," Wright-Phillips said.
"I think next season’s going to be tough for another reason. Next year, everything is just going to be so much harder for Liverpool — but everyone else too.
"Manchester City are going to be desperate to avoid making the same mistakes they did last season. They will not be complacent.
"Arsenal are going to give it that extra push after coming close three seasons in a row, and then you’ve got the other sides who’ll all be stepping it up."
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot (Image: Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Arsenal looks set to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad while Manchester City has been busy. Pep Guardiola, now with Pep Lijnders alongside him in the dugout, has added players like Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders to his roster.
Nonetheless, Liverpool won the league title by 10 points last season. And the expectation is that the playing group will have had a substantial injection of quality before the new season kicks off again in mid-August.
"If Mo Salah does what he did last season, then it’ll be almost impossible to stop him and Liverpool," Wright-Phillips, speaking to Prime Casino, continued. "He was scoring from almost every chance that dropped in front of him.
"He only needs a glimmer of a chance to change the game, just as he did against Everton. If he’s at his best, then Liverpool are going to be hard to stop."
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The Reds will kick off the new season at Anfield on the Friday night of the first weekend of the new Premier League campaign. Liverpool will then take on Newcastle United at St James' Park before hosting Arsenal.
By that point, it might have snapped up several new signings. Wirtz is one, while Milos Kerkez is also on the radar, and Jeremie Frimpong has already been secured from Bayer Leverkusen.
Liverpool.com says: The Reds will no doubt be the team to beat in the title race next season. That is why Manchester City is spending big, in order to catch up. Unfortunately for Guardiola, though, it will have to make quite the leap.