Jamie Carragher outlines Liverpool's biggest concern in Premier League title race

Liverpool have strengthened their squad this summer, but are still two players short and will face a tougher challenge in the Premier League this season. That’s the opinion of Jamie Carragher, who has issued a warning to the defending champions.

Arne Slot’s side kicked off their title defence with a thrilling but unconvincing 4-2 win over Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday night. While there was a promising performance from new striker Hugo Ekitike, the defence was vulnerable and it took two late goals to secure the points.

The Reds have spent over £300million on players in the summer transfer windowwith a huge turnover being overseen by Slot. They have added Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni, among others, yet Carragher has spotted a few worrying signs.

Asked on Sky Sports which side is best placed to challenge Liverpool for the title, Carragher replied: “I'd probably say Arsenal as a whole, as a club, as a team, but I've just got Pep Guardiola in the back of my mind.

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“He just doesn't not win. When he doesn't win a league title, I don't think he's gone two years without winning a league title. He's such a special manager, you think is he going to conjure something up?

“I'm also thinking ‘is this City squad good enough to go and win the league right now?’ The squad he had last season he couldn't find something to fix it and we always expect him to do that, so I'd probably just edge for Arsenal.”

He added: “There’s no doubt that the [Liverpool] squad is much stronger than it was last season. We could see that in the teams that the manager picked – he didn’t have full confidence in certain players. He’s rectified that in terms of the players that he’s brought in.

“But I envisage a much tighter title [race] this season, because I think Liverpool will be better, and I think they will maybe get more points than they got because they dropped off towards the end, but I think Manchester City and Arsenal will be a lot stronger too.

“Those two have been the two who have battled it out for the Premier League title in the past few seasons. Last season they dropped off and Liverpool took full advantage of that, but I expect them to be a lot stronger.”

Asked about the large turnover of players, Carragher said: “That is the worry and Liverpool haven’t looked themselves in pre-season. It might sound strange, but Liverpool still need more players because of those who have gone out.

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“You think of the amount of forwards they had last season, they’ve lost three and brought one in. So they need at least one more forward and one defender and that is a formidable squad that will look to attack the Premier League and Champions League.”

Liverpool are in negotiations to sign Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi and could return to test Newcastle ’s resolve over Alexander Isak. The Reds saw a bid of £110m plus £10m in add-ons rejected earlier this month, but Isak is refusing to play for the Magpies in the hope of forcing through a transfer.

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