Roy Keane thinks Liverpool‘s level has dropped of late, despite the club winning seven of its last nine games in the Premier League.
The Reds were crowned champions in April with four games to spare, getting over the line by thrashing Tottenham 5-1 at Anfield, but they were beaten 3-1 by Chelsea last weekend in their first game since securing the title.
After early eliminations in the FA Cup and the Champions League, Arne Slot’s men have nothing left to play for this season, but must play out the remaining three games of their league campaign.
While it may be difficult for the players to find the motivation from within during the final weeks of the season, the chance to beat Arsenal at Anfield should be an appealing prospect at any time.
Arsenal visits Merseyside this weekend before games against Brighton and Crystal Palace to round out Liverpool’s season, and despite criticizing Liverpool’s form of late, Keane expects Liverpool to beat the Gunners.
“Liverpool was poor at the weekend, and the last few games,” Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast. “They beat Spurs, they were poor at Leicester, poor against West Ham, poor against Chelsea. They’re still at home, and a bit of pride kicks in. I’m predicting a 2-1 Liverpool win.”
Keane’s comments on the latest Sky Bet podcast come after he outlined Liverpool’s transfer priorities on Sky’s coverage of Chelsea vs. Liverpool over the weekend.
“They want to back [winning the title] up,” Keane said. “That’s the big challenge for Liverpool. Possibly a left-back, a center-half, [and] potentially I would say striker.
“They’ve won the league, they’ll be a big attraction for a lot of players. Winning the league’s fantastic, but you’ve got to back it up again next year.”
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Liverpool.com understands that Liverpool’s priorities are a new forward and a new left-back, with the club looking to upgrade on Darwin Nunez and Andy Robertson, while a new center-back and a new right-back could also be targeted.
Liverpool expects there to be a strong market for Uruguayan forward Nunez this summer having rejected interest from several clubs in Saudi Arabia during the January window.
Liverpool is believed to also be considering its options at left-back, with a long-term successor to Robertson high on the agenda.
Robertson turned 31 in March, while Kostas Tsimikas, who will also enter his 30s next season, has not shown enough to suggest he is capable of replacing the Scotland international as a first-team regular.
