Phil Thompson has backed Liverpool to win their first-ever Premier League title this season, after admitting he believed that the Reds would close the gap in the last campaign.
The Sky Sports pundit believed that Jurgen Klopp’s side can take advantage of the fact that a group of Manchester City’s more important players, such as David Silva and Fernandinho, were getting older.
The former Reds’ enforcer believed that the injuries could pile up in Pep Guardiola’s side, who have already lost Leroy Sane after his setback in the recent Community Shield clash – and that could play directly into Liverpool’s hands.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Premier League predictions, Thompson said: “I think it is Liverpool’s year. This time last year when I got asked the same question, I went with Manchester City but predicted Liverpool would be a lot closer. I said if they didn’t win it last year, they would this year.”
“The likes of David Silva and Fernandinho are getting older, while the injuries pile up. It is a good opportunity for Liverpool, so they will win the league.”
Liverpool missed out on the title by a single point last season, after only losing one game in the entire season against the eventual champions, Man City.
OPINION
Thompson seems to spend half of his prediction blowing his own trumpet, pointing out the fact that he predicted the outcome of last season. Surely even he didn’t expect his former side to get that close to City, and especially doing it by only losing one game in the entire season, in all honesty, no one did. Liverpool did incredibly well to keep up with the demands of the top-flight while also going from strength to strength in the Champions League. They must learn from last seasons failure to secure the title and know when to close out games or in their case finish them off. It came down to the fact that Klopp’s side drew more games than City last season, who were more ruthless against lesser sides throughout the season. Liverpool averaged 15.1 shots in each game last season but only averaged 2.3 goals according to WhoScored, meaning they had to attempt more than seven shots on goal every one they scored – something that needs to improve if they are to overtake Man City this season. As for Thompson’s claim about Man City that injuries will pile up, that just seems like he is reading too much into them having some older players on their books.
