Xabi Alonso Predicts Liverpool Premier League Title Race After Pre-season Defeat to Arsenal

According to Xabi Alonso, the boss of Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal and Liverpool are set to be contenders for the Premier League title once again.

Alonso has predicted that both Arsenal and Liverpool will be in contention for the title this season. He had a close encounter with Arsenal’s strength earlier in the season when his team was defeated 4-1 by the Gunners.

In that match, Arsenal fans witnessed a spectacular performance with goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz.

A single goal from Adam Hlozek provided some consolation for the German side. Arsenal, having gone without a league title for 18 years, finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the past couple of seasons and is keen to achieve success.

Despite narrowly missing out on the title by just two points last season, Alonso believes that Pep Guardiola’s team will be the biggest challenge to Arsenal’s aspirations. Additionally, he expressed confidence that his former club, Liverpool, will also be a strong competitor.

Alonso’s remarks follow speculation that he might succeed Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, a role ultimately filled by Arne Slot after Liverpool decided not to pursue bringing Alonso back to the club. In a conversation with reporters after Leverkusen’s friendly match against Arsenal, Alonso stated:

“First, talking about the game, it wasn’t a good performance from our side, not happy, but I could be happy that it happened today.

“For sure it’s going to be a wake-up call. This is a new season and we are starting from zero. The standards were way below our normal level. If we don’t raise our standards in games of this level it’s going to be impossible.

“Arsenal for sure it’s not just last year, they have been creating a project, Mikel is leading a great team at a great club, they are going to be challenging with the big ones for sure. City will be there, Liverpool are coming with other ones as well.”

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta conveyed his satisfaction with his team’s current standing but emphasized that there is still potential for improvement. The Gunners’ manager stated: “Yeah for sure, we can take a lot of positives from the game.

“Apart from the result, the way we performed – a lot of very positive aspects, collectively and individually as well. We take a lot from it. A lot of things to learn as well.

“We can improve, especially in the second half when we made certain changes. A really good test, against a really good team that is really well coached. It was a good performance.”

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