Ian Wright is backing Liverpool to win the Premier League title this season despite labelling Manchester City as the team to beat.
Wright stated that he feels Liverpool would have learnt from missing out on the league title to Man City by a point last season, and are now aware of how important it is to ensure you don’t drop points in winnable games, especially when it comes to matches that take place at Anfield.
“What I’m seeing from Liverpool this season, I have to say Man City are magnificent, Liverpool will have to learn from the slip up against Leicester and when City lost to Newcastle,” said Wright on BBC Radio 5 Live (20:16, Monday, August 12th).
“At the end of the day, they lost the league by a point and what I’m making of this, is that what Liverpool learnt from last season is how important it is to not drop points when you have the opportunity to win games at home, that’s what it’s going to come down to.”
Chris Sutton then questioned Wright hinting that the Reds have a good chance of winning the Premier League and directly asked Wright whether Jurgen Klopp’s side could rack up 97 points once again.
“Yeah I do (will they get 97 points), why not?” responded Wright.
“The thing is they’ve done it before, can City do 98 again? Do 100 points again? You’d say yes, and are Liverpool going to chase them down due to the experienced they’ve gained? Yes. So if Manchester City get 100 points then I think Liverpool are capable of getting 99 points, and vice versa.
“I think Man City are the team to beat, but I’ve gone for Liverpool again.”
OPINION
Liverpool had a remarkable season in their 2018/19 campaign as not only did they add another Champions League trophy to their list of accolades, they finished second in the Premier League with an impressive 97 points. While it was disappointing to finish behind Man City in the league, it didn’t take away from how impressive the Reds were domestically last season. This is especially the case when you consider they only lost one league match last season, with them only suffering defeat at the hands of Man City, and it would be pretty remarkable if they could repeat that success by once again reaching 97 points. However, Wright doesn’t just believe Liverpool could get 97 points, he thinks they’re capable of racking up even more points as their neck-and-neck battle with Man City, will bring out the best in both sides. While the Reds only lost one game in the league, they did end up drawing seven matches, so there is room for improvement. Wright clearly believes Liverpool are capable of turning those draws into wins, but perhaps it’s easy said than done.
