Why writing off Liverpool for this season is stupid

For a team that has dominated the league like Liverpool did last season, the speed at which they've been written off in some quarters is staggering.

There are issues with the squad depth, an injury to a key player could cause serious problems. However, that is the case for any team. Liverpool of course should spend, even with the arrival of left-back Kostas Tsimikas.

They need a new centre-back to replace Dejan Lovren and they need a back up forward, preferably a winger. However, this is a squad that has won the Premier League and the Champions League in the previous two seasons.

Chelsea have spent, yes. Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and the rest are impressive players.

Manchester City will look to spend, even after signing Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake. However, the reality is that Liverpool, even with a dip in form at the end of the season, got 99 points and finished 18 points ahead of Manchester City in the 2019/20 season.

In the last seasons, Liverpool has been listed as second best in many pre-season predictions.

The money spent by the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea have been too attractive for the pundits. A poor run of form at the end of the season is now used as the justification for the doomsayers. However, despite all of the money spent at other clubs, there is still uncertainty.

All of Chelsea's big incomings aside from Ben Chilwell have never played Premier League football before. Most are young and have the pressure of a high price tag to deal with. They will need to gel quickly to challenge for the league title, and there's no certainty that will happen.

Meanwhile, Manchester City are still defensively suspect. Even if as expected, they sign Kalidou Koulibaly, they will be playing him out of position. Koulibaly has dominated the left side of Napoli's defence, but Aymeric Laporte has that spot locked down for City.

He'll have to adapt to a new position in a new system under Guardiola, a big ask for anyone.

Liverpool meanwhile, have a settled squad, with fringe players starting to make an impact. Between Naby Keita's recent form and Takumi Minamino's fine pre-season form, these are two players set to make a big impact on Liverpool's season. Of course, City and Chelsea could catch Liverpool and the Reds could stumble with no fresh faces looking like joining yet.

However, the claims that Liverpool are outsiders for the title and are underdogs will suit Jurgen Klopp and his players just fine.