Roy Keane has weighed in on next season’s Premier League title race and admitted that he can’t see Manchester United challenging for top-spot despite Erik Ten Hag’s arrival at Old Trafford.
Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal will all also be looking to close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City who have made up the top-two in three of the previous four seasons, but the ex-United midfielder can’t see any of those sides seriously competing with last season’s top-two.
“I don’t think they will close the gap. I think they will be a bit better. They have quality and the recruitment, but you can’t look beyond Liverpool and Man City,” the Irishman told Sky Bet (via the Daily Mail).
The Sky Sports pundit believes that Pep Guardiola’s side will win their third successive title this season, especially after the recent signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
He said: “Brilliant players, they’ve obviously improved with an unbelievable striker [Haaland] and they’ve got one of the greatest managers ever in Pep [Guardiola].”
And Liverpool may have suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Red Devils in Bangkok on Tuesday, but Keane believes they’re not yet ready to compete with Jurgen Klopp’s side or their city rivals in the Premier League next term.
“The manager no doubt will be given money to spend, how he recruits, four or five experienced players have left the club, which I think is a good thing.
“But I still don’t see United competing with Liverpool and Manchester City, not just yet.”
United had to settle for a Europa League spot last season after finishing the season sixth in the table – they were a huge 13 points behind Spurs who occupied the final Champions League position.
We do appear all set for another title race between Liverpool and City, but as always at the beginning of the season, Chelsea are expected to be in with a shout too.
We responded to City’s signing of Haaland with the arrival of Darwin Nunez at Anfield.
Let’s hope the Uruguayan can settle quickly at Anfield to ensure we remain as competitive as possible on all fronts once again next season.