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Paul Scholes has tipped Liverpool to defend its Premier League title - although the former Manchester United midfielder has sent a warning to the Reds ahead of the new season.
Arne Slot’s side is just days away from kicking off the 2025/26 campaign, when it will of course be aiming to make it back-to-back titles after last season’s triumph. Liverpool heads to Wembley on Sunday to take on Crystal Palace in the Community Shield, before facing Bournemouth five days later as the Premier League season gets underway.
The Reds have undergone a major transformation since lifting the title, with nearly $400 million spent this summer, and they might not be done there. Already, the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike have arrived, while there is still a chance Alexander Isak could be added to the mix.
Plenty of pundits have already had their say on Liverpool’s title chances in the new season, with some suggesting that Isak’s signing would make it a foregone conclusion.
Arsenal and Manchester City will no doubt have a big say about that though, with both sides having made their own big additions this summer, and with Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola aiming to improve on their showings last season.
Scholes though is backing Liverpool to go all the way again, although he does feel there is one issue that Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes need to sort first.
“I can’t look past Liverpool,” Scholes said on The Overlap Fan Debate. “I still think they need a center-half though, because if one of them (Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate) get injured, it could be an issue.”
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher joined Scholes in backing his former side to defend their title, and taking a different approach to his predictions in the process.
“I think this could be the first season I’ve ever predicted Liverpool to win the league,” Carragher said.
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“I think I’ve always been City, to be honest, with obviously Guardiola. Yeah, I’m going to go Liverpool.”
Liverpool.com says: The Reds will need to heed Scholes’ warning there. All the interest might be around Isak at the moment, but Liverpool desperately needs to sign a new defender.
Going into a new season with just Van Dijk, Konate and Joe Gomez feels like far too big a risk, especially with the latter injured again. Relying on the likes of Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch to fill in at center-back is not something Slot should be doing.
Hopefully the Reds have something planned, and soon. Whether it’s Marc Guehi or someone else, they simply need to get a new defender in.
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