Merson reveals Liverpool ‘problem’ as he picks two ‘contenders’ capable of fighting City for Prem title

Lewis Oldham 20 Sep 2023 11:12 AM

Arsenal legend Paul Merson plays in a charity football match.

Paul Merson thinks Liverpool and Arsenal are “the only contenders for Manchester City this season” as Manchester United are already “finished”.

Man City and Arsenal were involved in a tense race for the Premier League title last season.

Arsenal were top of the league for much of the campaign but they dropped off during the run-in as Man City ended up five points clear of their rivals.

Pep Guardiola’s side have made a perfect start to the new season as they have won their first five Premier League games of the new campaign.

But Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are just two points adrift of the Treble winners after the three Premier League sides made improvements during the summer transfer window.

The Gunners have benefitted from signing Declan Rice and David Raya, while Liverpool splashed out £150m to overhaul their midfield.

Dominik Szoboszlai has been particularly impressive during the early weeks of this season as he’s already formed a solid partnership with Alexis Mac Allister.

Merson has been quick to write off Manchester United as they already “can’t win the league”. But he does think Liverpool and Arsenal have a chance of beating Man City to the Premier League title.

“Liverpool and Arsenal are the only contenders for Manchester City this season,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“Liverpool were poor against Wolves first half, really poor. But they came out in the second half and blew Wolves away.

“The problem is you can’t be doing that against the better teams. You don’t want to be going to the Emirates or the Etihad and playing like that, the game would be all over in the first half.

“You’ve just got to stick with Man City for as long as you can. Every game that goes by, you have to make sure you’re three points away from them, tops.

“For example, Manchester United are already nine points behind. They’re finished. Done. They can’t win the league – because it’s Man City. If it’s any other team you can go, ‘oh if you put a run together, you never know.’ But City are not losing four or five games.

“The title race used to start in December and January – and it was about who had the best run after that. Now Man City have blown it out of the water. You can’t fall behind.”

Liverpool Paul Merson