As Liverpool spent four months chasing down Man City in the Premier League title race last season, only to fall narrowly short on the final day of the campaign as they missed out by a solitary point, they were left to rue two results which ultimately cost them dear. The first was against Pep Guardiola’s men at the Etihad, as the Reds fought out a 2-2 draw when victory would have put them in the driving seat for the title.
The second came at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the penultimate home game of the season at Anfield, as Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw after falling behind. The Reds only dropped points three times in 2022, with the other coming at Stamford Bridge as they were held to a draw after throwing away a 2-0 lead against Chelsea.
With the trio joining Jurgen Klopp ’s men in making up the Premier League’s top four, it would be these dropped points in ‘six-pointers’ that would result in the title going to the Etihad. After all, having also been held in each of the return fixtures in the first half of the campaign, Liverpool would finish bottom of the top four mini-league after failing to beat any of their Champions League rivals.
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In contrast, Man City, Chelsea and Spurs all picked up eight points courtesy of their respective two draws with the Reds, City’s league double over Chelsea, Chelsea’s over Spurs and Spurs’ over City. With Liverpool seeing the Premier League champion in each of their past four seasons as title-challengers being the side that came on top in this top four mini-league, it’s clear which games Klopp’s side will have to do better in this season if they wish to come out on top.
While the Reds were left as City’s only title-rivals for the second half of last season, it had been predicted before the start of the campaign that we would have four juggernauts competing to be crowned champions of England, after the reigning champions parted with £100m to bring in Jack Grealish, Chelsea spent a club-record £97.5m to re-sign Romelu Lukaku, and Manchester United brought in Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane. However, the Londoners fell away once the Belgian faltered before being distracted by takeover talk amid uncertainty regarding Roman Abramovich’s future at the club, while the Red Devils were a mess on and off the pitch and never even came close.
However, could the multi-horse title-race that never materialised last year actually become reality this season? Looking across the rest of the ‘Big Six’s touted transfer business, it’s clear they all mean, well, business.
Liverpool’s incomings for the summer are seemingly done after parting with a potential club-record £85m to recruit Darwin Nunez as a replacement for the wantaway Sadio Mane, and bringing in teenagers Fabio Carvalho from Fulham and Calvin Ramsay from Aberdeen in deals worth up to £7.7m and £6.5m. As a result, with the first team set to report for pre-season training on July 4, Klopp already has his senior squad in place for the 2022/23 season.
However, with it a rather different story for their rivals, Kopites could be forgiven for feeling rather envious when looking at the intimidating recruitment going on elsewhere at the top end of the Premier League table
At the Etihad, Man City have signed Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund after activating his £51m release clause, while Julian Alvarez will link up with Guardiola ’s squad this summer after a £14m transfer was agreed with River Plate back in January. Kalvin Phillips is undergoing a medical ahead of a £45m transfer from Leeds United while Brighton & Hove Albion defender Marc Cucurella is next on their wishlist. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has also moved to the Etihad on a free transfer.
Having won the league without a striker last year, City hardly needed to do much more to maintain their challenge. But having transformed Tottenham’s fortunes following his arrival in North London, Antonio Conte has overseen a great window for Spurs so far to bolster their own title-chances as they look to build on last year’s fourth-place finish.
Richarlison became the latest signing on Friday, joining in a £60m move from Everton. Meanwhile, Spurs had already signed Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster on free transfers, along with Yves Bissouma in a £25m switch from Brighton, and are rumoured to also be in the market for Middlesbrough’s Djed Spence and Barcelona's Clement Lenglet.
In contrast, Chelsea are yet to sign anyone but that doesn’t appear like it will remain the case for long, with them in talks to sign Leeds United’s Raphinha after making a £60m bid and also in the market for Raheem Sterling after making contact with Man City. Meanwhile, Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt, City's Nathan Ake and Ousmane Dembele, a free agent after his Barcelona contract expired, are also said to be on their radar.
Manchester United are yet to add to their squad following Erik ten Hag’s appointment, though it’s not through lack of trying after missing out on Nunez to Liverpool. However, they are in talks with Barcelona to sign Frenkie De Jong and have agreed a £13m deal with Feyenoord for Tyrell Malacia. Elsewhere, they’re interested in Christian Eriksen after his contract with Brentford expired and are reportedly vying with Arsenal for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez.
As for the Gunners themselves, they are set to sign Gabriel Jesus in a £45m deal from Man City and have already brought in Fabio Vieira in a £34.2m move from Porto and Marquinhos and Matt Turner from Sao Paulo and New England Evolution respectively. Meanwhile, they aren’t likely to be done there having reportedly been in talks to sign Raphinha and seen two bids rejected for Martinez.
With the summer transfer window not closing for another two months, there are bound to be plenty more twists and turns as Liverpool’s rivals look to strengthen further to bolster their hopes of challenging the Reds and Man City as genuine title-challengers. And with last year’s fellow top-four finishers all taking points off Klopp’s men, the bar this season is set to be raised even higher.
However, with Liverpool narrowly missing out on an unprecedented quadruple last season, club bosses will quite rightly have faith in their squad heading into the new campaign. And with incoming business complete ahead of returning for pre-season, boosted by confirmation of Mohamed Salah signing a new three-year-contract on Friday afternoon which could prove to be the best piece of summer business of them all, Klopp will also look to ensure his side have a potential head start on the Reds’ title-rivals as a result. Small margins and all that.
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