Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the work of Arsenal this summer and suggested that they and Chelsea will be part of the Premier League title race next season. The new campaign is less than two weeks away now, with the Gunners kicking things off against Crystal Palace on Friday August 5.
Mikel Arteta’s side will walk out with a number of new faces, having signed five players and spent over £100million already in the window. An impressive pre-season campaign has also created excitement, but the Spaniard was less keen to join in, reminding most that it is only friendlies at this stage.
“Don’t get carried away,” Arteta told reporters after a 4-0 win over Chelsea. “There are still a lot of things that we have to get better at and do better.
“But I think it’s good to get some momentum, finish the tour in the right way, give some enjoyment to our fans and everybody that’s been contributing to make this tour happen. Now it’s time to go back to London, to focus and keep making improvements and steps forwards.”
While they have made a number of changes, Chelsea have only managed to add two to their squad before they kick off the new season. It led to boss Thomas Tuchel questioning the options at his disposal: “Listen, it’s the same players, so why should anything change? We will see hopefully development but at the moment, we have the same issues because we have the same players.”
However, despite both teams falling very short of challenging for the title last season, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested they could be involved this time around. Speaking to Sky Sports, the German coach was questioned about possible challengers to themselves and Manchester City in the battle for top spot.
He said: “It was always clear that these kinds of things will happen [teams closing the gap]. Arsenal did, obviously, exceptionally well. Did I mention Chelsea? Probably not.”
Both sides will certainly be hoping they manage to find themselves in the mix next time out, breaking the chain of Liverpool and Manchester City dominance.
