Even though the Premier League season is underway, predictions are still flying around left, right and centre.
Liverpool didn't have the best start to the season in a league sense. The Community Shield victory over Manchester City was then followed by a timid performance against Fulham on the opening day of the league campaign.
Jurgen Klopp expressed his irritation with the attitude and performance from his players. He will know what needs to be worked on, but at the same time there is no panicking at Anfield after just one league game.
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp has already identified Liverpool's 'Andres Iniesta' to solve midfield issue
READ MORE: Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas believes Liverpool won't make top four
Despite this draw, one pundit took the opportunity to give their views on Liverpool. In particular, a prediction for the outcome this season.
William Gallas, who played more than 300 games in the English top flight across his career, has made the headlines with his comments about the Reds. The former France international was giving his prediction for the top four, and went on to make several claims about Liverpool.
“As an ex-London player, I have to say Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham to win the Premier League,” he told Genting Casino . “On top four, Liverpool can miss out because they don't have Sadio Mane anymore and Diaz does not have the same impact.
“Liverpool always concede goals too, like we saw against Fulham. Even if I like how Liverpool play, I think it will be City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.”
Gallas is entitled to his opinion, of course, and if he doesn't think Liverpool will make the top four, then so be it. But his reasoning deserves further inspection.
The Frenchman played for Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham in his career, winning trophies while at Stamford Bridge. Of course he is going to have some form of bias towards the clubs he used to play for, that’s only normal.
His comments about Diaz are intriguing, though. Yes, it’s true that Mane has left and Liverpool face an uphill task to try and fill the void left by the Senegalese international.
At the same time, though, Diaz has already shown last season that he is capable of seamlessly fitting into the Liverpool team as if he’s been at the club for years. With a full pre-season and more matches under his belt, Klopp and co reasonably expect the goal contributions to go up. Indeed, he was denied a goal at Fulham by the offside flag and the underside of the crossbar.
Also, there are two sides to this. Liverpool and Man City were well ahead of the other clubs in the table, with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham well adrift in terms of points total and overall quality and consistency.
By Gallas assuming that Liverpool won’t finish in the top four, that’s also predicting not one, but all three of those aforementioned to close the gap on the Reds in just a single season. While it may be possible, it’s an unlikely prospect given Liverpool still have the vast majority of their squad from last season.
But the real issue with Gallas' comments are with his take on Liverpool's defence.
“Liverpool always concede goals too.”
This is just factually incorrect. Liverpool had the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League last season, alongside Man City, with 26 conceded.
To put this into context, Arsenal let in 48, Tottenham 40 and Chelsea 33. All three comfortably more than Liverpool.
It wasn’t just last season, either. Liverpool’s defensive record has been the best in the Premier League in three of the last four seasons.
So not only have Liverpool been better than their rivals from London, they have also been better than every other club in the top flight on three out of the last four campaigns. Not “always conceding goals”, after all.
Gallas isn't the first pundit to write off the Reds. Jermaine Beckford also doubted their top four credentials last season and, after watching the Reds run City so close again, quickly changed his mind and tipped them for the title this time around.
The evidence certainly suggests that Gallas is also going to end up with egg on his face - and don't bet against him performing a similar u-turn next time he's asked for his predictions.
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