Alan Shearer believes that Chelsea and Liverpool will have contrasting ends to the 2022/23 season as both sides currently languish in mid-table at the halfway stage.
Alan Shearer has predicted that Chelsea will improve after their poor run of form – but fears for Liverpool following their dismal 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.
Graham Potter’s side returned to winning ways with a 1-0 success over Crystal Palace as Kai Havertz struck to earn the Blues’ their first win in five matches. The result kept Chelsea in 10th, 10 points off the Champions League places but Shearer expects the Blues to close that gap in the coming weeks with players set come back from injury.
Meanwhile, the all-time Premier League top scorer has aired his concerns over the Reds’ dismal recent spell, having shipped eight goals in three matches against Brentford, Wolves and the Seagulls. The defeat at the Amex Stadium was particularly damning as Brighton battered Liverpool and could’ve scored more than the three they netted.
Shearer told BBC Sport: “I suspect Chelsea will improve after their poor spell in the past few weeks, as their players come back from injury, but Liverpool look miles off it at the moment.
“At the moment, Jurgen Klopp’s side are terrible at the back, with no intensity when they press. They look a shadow of the side that we are used to seeing at the top end of the table, and I don’t see things getting better any time soon – it is going to be a long hard season for them.”
Andrew Robertson cut a dejected figure after Liverpool’s defeat
” Arsenal have to be favourites to win the Premier League now,” Shearer told BBC Sport. “It is very clear they are going to take some shifting from the top of the table.
The only thing we don’t know about Mikel Arteta’s side yet is how they will cope with being frontrunners in the second half of the season. But it doesn’t look like their inexperience of being in a title race is fazing them at the moment. Their superb win over north London rivals Tottenham on Sunday was further proof of that.
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