Ben Foster believes that Liverpool will fall short of the title in the upcoming season and finish third after losing Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich this summer.
The Reds finished a single point off of Champions Manchester City in the 2021/22 campaign, managing to attain 92 points and scoring 94 goals.
However, the departure of Mane, who was an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s team, may hinder them to some extent this time around.
Darwin Nunez has arrived from Benfica to replace the Senegalese international, but the 23-year-old may take some time to adapt to English football and his new club.
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Nevertheless, the Liverpool squad remains largely the same as it was for the duration of last season, where they came within two matches of becoming the first English side to win the quadruple.
Youngsters Calvin Ramsay and Fabio Carvalho have been brought in to add depth and competition.
Former Watford goalkeeper Foster has boldly claimed that despite maintaining most of their highly successful team, the loss of Mane will prove to be damaging and the Merseysiders will drop down to third next season.
He said: “This season, I’m going to go for third. I think there are two better teams than Liverpool this year."
"Losing Sadio Mane, I think they’re in a little bit of a transition period."
“I can’t see them trying to be up there and about trying to win the Premier League, I just can’t. I still think they’ll do decent, third position.”
While Foster didn’t reveal who he thinks will be the two ahead of the Reds, you’d expect one of them to be Manchester City.
Yes, Mane could prove to be a huge loss, but Klopp and the Liverpool hierarchy have moved effectively to replace the 30-year-old in the last six months.
Luis Diaz arrived from Porto in January for an initial £37.5 million and impressed in the second half of last season, scoring six times.
His presence on the left will replace a lot of what the Champions League runners up have lost in Mane.
Nunez could take time to settle, but he has the pedigree to explode onto the Premier League scene, having netted 34 times in 41 appearances for Benfica last season.
Klopp also has Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota at his disposal, so he is not light for quality attacking options.
Topics: Liverpool, Ben Foster
Alfie Culshaw