Emile Heskey says it can be ‘difficult’ for Liverpool to retain the Premier League trophy and has backed 4 teams to mount title challenges next season.
Liverpool blew away their domestic rivals this season to attract level with arch-rivals Manchester United on 20 English league titles.
Losing just twice all season, Liverpool brushed off an early challenge from Chelsea and a more sustained bid from Arsenal to win their first league title since 2020.
Arne Slot’s side could yet finish on 94 points and can soon turn their attentions to a title defence.
Manchester City won 4 Premier League trophies in a row before their stranglehold over the title got here to an end in underwhelming fashion this season.
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Pep Guardiola’s side are only fourth – 21 points adrift of Liverpool – with 4 games remaining, but Heskey expects Pep Guardiola’s side to ‘come back strong’ next yr.
The ex-England striker believes Arsenal will even be within the title mix for the fourth yr in a row while he has surprisingly backed Newcastle United and Aston Villa to be ‘right at the highest of the table’ next season.
Newcastle have climbed to 3rd this term – five points behind second-placed Arsenal – while ending their long wait for a serious trophy by winning the Carabao Cup.
Aston Villa are also within the hunt for a top-five place with a couple of games remaining and went deep in each the Champions League and FA Cup under hugely respected manager Unai Emery.
‘It’s going to be difficult for Liverpool to retain the title next season, but they’ve an important squad and manager, so that they are definitely capable,’ Heskey told Metro via Best Latest Bingo Sites.
‘I believe Man City will come back stronger next season, and I believe it’s just the Pep Guardiola factor that makes me consider that.
‘Arsenal will even be on their heels. With Arsenal, I feel prefer it’s only a matter of time before they take that next step and win the league.
Graeme Souness names Liverpool’s biggest rival for the title next season
‘I hope these Liverpool players feel that this might be the beginning of a dominating period once more for Liverpool.
‘That won’t be really easy as England’s top tier is a brilliant difficult competition to win, and I still consider Manchester City to be the largest threat to Liverpool come August.
‘Arsenal have threatened but Mikel Arteta knows he must improve his squad with three or 4 quality additions, or they are going to come up short once more.’
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‘Aston Villa and Newcastle will even be right up at the highest of the league again next season, assuming Newcastle can have the ability to spend in the summertime, if PSR is holding them back, it’ll be hard to sustain their form.’
As for this season’s race for Champions League football, Heskey has backed Aston Villa to affix Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester City in Europe’s top cup competition.
That will mean Chelsea and Nottingham Forest missing out on the Champions League and dropping right down to the Europa League.
‘I’m excited to see the race for the Champions League, it’s going to be really exciting,’ the ex-Premier League striker added.
‘I actually hope Villa sneak in, and I believe they’re able to doing it, but they need a little bit of luck with other results.
‘I even have Villa sneaking in fifth behind Man City, Newcastle, Arsenal and naturally Liverpool.
‘I believe Forest have had a unbelievable season, but could burn out, and the battle for fifth between Forest, Chelsea and Villa might be interesting. But I hope Villa get it with Chelsea and Forest within the Europa League.’
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