Arsenal great Paul Merson predicts Liverpool FC could very well face a challenge to maintain a top-four finish this Premier League season judging by the Reds’ recent performance against Leeds United last weekend.
Voicing his concern over Liverpool FC’s transfer business this summer, Merson believes the defending Premier League champions lack quality options in key areas of their squad, particularly at centre-back and in the attacking department.
“I think they need to buy someone. It would not surprise me if the finished fourth this season, and I thought that before this game. It’s the same team, and they have a massive amount of players who have to play every week. Virgil van Dijk cannot get injured. The full-backs cannot get injured. They have not got anyone to replace the front three if they are injured.”
Taking into account Liverpool FC’s narrow win over Marco Bielsa’s newly-promoted Leeds at Anfield on Saturday, things could get difficult for Klopp’s men as the Premier League season progresses and title-challenge from rival clubs Chelsea and Manchester City being pervasive over the course of the campaign.
“You look at the goals Liverpool let in against Leeds: wow. I just think they turned up and thought they would wipe the floor with Leeds.”
In his column for Sky Sports, the ex-Gunners forward compared Manchester City’s massive squad depth to the Reds’, adding that the former’s relative bench strength allowed them to cover for injury troubles to first-team regulars, a boon not available at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal in charge of the Anfield giants.
“If Man City get injuries, they will just play: ‘We’ll score more goals than you’ anyway. What we’ll see later in the season is teams like Man City come into the fold massively, because their squad is too big. That’s why I worry about Liverpool, there’s five or six players who must play week in, week out, otherwise the team is weakened immensely.”
