Jurgen Klopp has sought to play down the Reds’ chances of winning the Premier League this season, suggesting that Manchester City are the definite favourites.
Ahead of the new campaign kicking off, the league title is the main aim for the club, as well as retaining the Champions League, but having not signed any senior players this summer, many fans believe that is a tough ask.
Klopp says City, who have already bought Rodri from Atletico Madrid and brought back left-back Angelino from PSV Eindhoven, have a big advantage heading into the season, with their experience and consistency cited as reasons why.
According to the Daily Express, Klopp said: “They’ve won the league twice in a row, that’s one reason [for being favourites]. Ours was the first year on that level.
“97 points was not a coincidence, but it’s not as if we outplayed all the teams, that we shot them out of the stadium constantly. We had tight games. We were a real results machine last year, really impressive.
“But the champions didn’t lose a player, apart from [Vincent] Kompany, but they will be able to do something. They are pretty consistent, a good age group, experienced, they are clear favourites. How could we be favourites?”
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Despite those comments, Klopp also insisted that the Reds will be doing everything to win the title – as would be expected.
The boss added: “Being a favourite has no influence on a season.”
The Reds are likely to be in the top two in the table once again when the campaign ends May, but while edging ahead of Manchester City will be a huge challenge, achieve another season like last year, and you just never know.