Jamie Carragher tips dark horse to challenge Liverpool for Premier League title next season

Liverpool won the Premier League with four games to spare this season, but Jamie Carragher is expecting the Reds to face more competition from Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle next season

Jamie Carragher believes Newcastle “could spring a surprise” and mount a Premier League title challenge next season. Liverpool have won the league in dominant fashion this season, with Arne Slot’s side confirmed as champions with four games to spare.

However, Carragher is expecting both Manchester City and Arsenal to put up more of a fight next season and he is also backing Newcastle to challenge if they can keep hold of their top stars and strengthen this summer.

Newcastle beat Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup in March, their first major domestic trophy in 70 years, and Carragher believes they could take the next step. “I think it will be them two (City and Arsenal) who come back to challenge Liverpool,” Carragher told the Metro.

“City will go again in the market and Arsenal will do the same. But from that chasing pack, Newcastle could spring a surprise. If they keep their best players and just add one or two squad players, they are a top team.

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“We saw that against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final and they can take any of those teams. They’ve got great support at home as well and in certain positions – especially centre forward and central midfield – they have players who are as good as anybody in the Premier League.”

Reflecting on Liverpool’s title win, Carragher was full of praise for Slot and believes he has been able to “get a little bit more” out of his squad than predecessor Jurgen Klopp did last season. “I’m delighted Liverpool won the title, nobody expected that and to do it so comfortably, you can’t really believe it,” he added.

“A great job by the players but especially from the manager. Now the exciting part is what is he going to do in the summer to put his stamp on the squad, because it’s just a squad that was left by Jurgen Klopp that he’s managed to get a little bit more out of.

“I think now he’ll look to bring his own players in. The club have had 12 months to assess everything transfer-wise and the manager has also had time to see who he rates and doesn’t rate and I would expect five or six players to leave and five or six to come in and then Liverpool will be a lot stronger.”

And Klopp did send Slot a message after Liverpool’s title win, congratulating the Dutchman on his achievement. “What did he have to say? What most of them said, ‘Congratulations, now you know how special a club it is, now you are part of history as well’,” Slot said.

“He was really happy for me, the players, the staff and fans – like we all know Jurgen. Maybe I’ve got a few but I think he was the most famous one.

“There were a lot of messages and nine out of 10 times they were the same. It’s always nice to get these messages, I’ve tried to answer all of them. It’s been amazing, especially Sunday – maybe for all the Liverpool fans but for many of them the best day of their lives and I think it was the same for me.”

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