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David Tully Jul 30th 2026
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Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson says Liverpool will be “Arsenal’s nearest challengers” in the race for the Premier League title.
Having sacked Arne Slot and replaced the Dutchman with Andoni Iraola, the Reds are not really fancied to challenge for top spot.
As well as a change in the dugout, the Merseysiders have lost experienced players such as Mo Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate without bringing in replacements, but Merson still thinks Iraola’s team have a better chance than Manchester City:
“I don’t think Man City will win the Premier League this year anyway. They didn’t win it last year with the best manager in the world. They were only ever in the title race because Arsenal had a bad three weeks. I think Liverpool are Arsenal’s nearest challengers this season.”
Liverpool need to make several signings to be contenders
Only the most optimistic of supporters would agree with Merson that the Reds should be regarded as Arsenal’s main rivals for 1st place.
Finding a suitable replacement for Salah has proven elusive, while there are weaknesses in other positions, including centre-half and right-back.
With Hugo Ekitike set to be absent for most of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, there are also concerns over how Alexander Isak will manage playing week in, week out. In an ideal world, a new striker would be sought out.
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How will Iraola cope with the demands of the job?
In addition to a lack of squad depth, the new head coach lacks experience of playing matches every few days.
Iraola has shown at Bournemouth (and before that at Rayo Vallecano) that he can get the most out of his team when he has a week’s preparation between fixtures. The Basque will have to adapt fast, or any hopes of a title challenge will be quickly extinguished
David Tully
David Tully
David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for the Football News Network.