In a prediction which is sure to delight fans of his former club, Stan Collymore is backing Liverpool to finish in the top two of the Premier League this season and hasn’t discounted them from possibly winning the title.
Despite failing to beat Tottenham or Brighton in their last couple of top-flight games, the Reds are just three points off the summit with nearly a quarter of the campaign completed, raising hopes that they could challenge for the crown once the spring months roll around.
In his latest column for CaughtOffside, the ex-Anfield striker is confident that Jurgen Klopp’s side will get a positive result against Everton this weekend and be in the mix to lift the title come May.
Collymore wrote: “Liverpool still have a very new squad, especially in midfield, so it’s going to be interesting to see how some of those new names handle their first Merseyside derby. I suspect they’ll come through it and continue to have another great campaign.
“I think if any team finishes above Klopp’s men, they’ll be champions. For me, Liverpool will either win the league or they’ll finish second. I think they’ll finish higher than Spurs and higher than Arsenal – the only team I see doing better than them over a 38-domestic game season is Manchester City.”
The results against Spurs and Brighton had checked Liverpool’s momentum a little before the international break, but the Reds have already ticked off those two games as well as Chelsea and Newcastle away, plus European-competing Aston Villa and West Ham at home.
That tricky start to the campaign could’ve seen our title hopes sunk by now, just as they had been at the same juncture last year, but a win in the Merseyside derby tomorrow would put us top of the table for a few hours at least.
Arsenal are showing the potential to challenge for the crown again in 2023/24, especially after their statement win over Man City, but for Collymore to suggest that we’ll finish above the Gunners having ended last season 17 points behind them shows how rapidly things have improved at Anfield.
It’s still quite early in the campaign, and we’ve yet to play any of the top three from last term, but it does look like it could be a wide-open title race this time around.
Liverpool must ensure they’re in that conversation once we reach the business end of proceedings, and the next step towards doing so is to hoover up maximum points from our next four games, all of which are against teams currently placed 13th or lower.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️