Liverpool’s draw against Chelsea on the opening day of the 2023/24 Premier League season may have provided a glimpse into the near future in terms of how well both sides will fare for the rest of the campaign, with Sky Sports’ Paul Merson suggesting that adding Moises Caicedo could see the Blues pip the Reds for a top four spot.
The tug-of-war on the pitch has been replicated with the pursuits of Caicedo – won by Chelsea – and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia – likely to be won, again, by the Blues.
After having let Jordan Henderson and Fabinho leave for the riches available in the Saudi Pro League, it was incumbent upon the recruitment team at Liverpool to bring in some high quality replacements.
Alex Mac Allister is a shrewd buy, but missing out on other targets could come back and bite them in the English top-flight very quickly indeed.
“Chelsea already look a hundred times better than last season and with Moises Caicedo moving to Stamford Bridge, they’ll finish in the top four instead of Liverpool,” Merson was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
“You could see in Sunday’s game that both clubs need Caicedo and that’s why he’s going for £115m. Is he worth that? Not for me, but Chelsea supporters won’t care how much they pay.
“Liverpool were so open. I just don’t see who is going to win the ball back for them. Conor Gallagher did a good job for Chelsea to break things up after a slow start, but Liverpool didn’t have that.
“If Liverpool had played one of the top sides, like Arsenal or Man City, on Sunday then they’d have been in trouble, it could have been four or five. They got ripped open a lot of times and were never punished.”
With less than three weeks to go until the summer transfer window closes, it leaves Liverpool in the unfortunate position of having to ‘panic buy.’
Worse still is that potential selling clubs will know how desperate the Reds are to secure a player with the right set of skills, and they’ll also know that Liverpool have money to spend given that they were hopeful of securing what would’ve been a British record deal for Caicedo.
Is he back on the gear?
Definitely above Liverpool. Looked a lot stronger and more dangerous. Top four no problem.
what game was you watching