Jamie Carragher has named Liverpool’s biggest rival for the Premier League title next season. The Premier League trophy is surely heading to Anfield after Arne Slot’s side opened up a healthy 11-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The gap to second-placed Arsenal could have stood at just five points after the weekend’s fixtures but the Gunners suffered a damaging defeat at home to West Ham before Liverpool beat Manchester City.
It would be almost unprecedented if Liverpool did not lift the Premier League trophy at this stage, with Arsenal struggling to cope with their injury crisis and defending champions Man City slipping down the pack. Man City’s drop-off under Pep Guardiola has been staggering but Carragher still expects the Etihad club to be Liverpool’s biggest rivals for the title next season, ahead of the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea.
Speaking on The Overlap with Sky Bet, Carragher said: ‘I was thinking about Arsenal and I actually think they’ve been a little bit unlucky. I think sometimes, it’s about timing and I think if the Arsenal of last season, if they were playing this season, it would be a real sort of fight between Liverpool and Arsenal to the wire.’
‘Last season, you were at your best but Man City are still City. City have had the drop-off this season and I think the worry for Arsenal is, and I take it back to when I played for Liverpool, under Mikel Arteta, I think he’s been here five years and every year you get progressively stronger. But you eventually reach the point where you just don’t make the final step, which can lead to significant drop-off,’ Carragher continued.
He raised concerns over whether Arsenal has already peaked under Arteta: ‘Now, when you say you aren’t the team of the last two years, are you a little bit worried we’ve actually seen peak Arsenal and Arteta?’ Carragher noted the exceptional performance of Arsenal last season, saying: ‘I thought Arsenal were brilliant, as good as anyone in Europe, and I was watching them every week thinking this is a proper team.’
Despite Liverpool's impressive 11-point lead, City remains 20 points adrift of the Premier League leaders and is coming off of being knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last week. Carragher emphasized City’s potential as rivals: ‘We were talking after the game yesterday, and I still think, if Liverpool go on and win the league, you can always ask, who’s going to challenge the champions next season? I would still back Manchester City more than Arsenal right now.’
Slot, who recently took over the managerial role at Liverpool from Jurgen Klopp, expressed surprise at the club's dominant position. He remarked: ‘No, because you never think like this. If you start somewhere, you don’t think about where you are, points-wise, at the end of the season. No one saw us as title contenders when we started at the beginning of the season.’
Slot acknowledged the fluctuated performance of Manchester City, reflecting on their struggles: ‘We all know why, they had many injuries, they had a difficult period, but again today you could see –—although the result maybe doesn’t show you—how good they are as a team and how difficult they are to play against.’
The commentary surrounding Liverpool's current standings and the challenges posed by their rivals sheds light on the competitive nature of the Premier League. With Carragher's insights, it is clear why many see Liverpool as the team to beat this season, as they close in on what seems to be another title.