Can the Reds Win the Premier League This Season?

I spent a lot of time with two of my friends this summer: Euro Palace and Football Star. Not that there weren’t enough great matches to follow, with the EURO 2016 and all, but the poor performance of England’s squad disappointed me, turning me away from the whole event. Instead, I would head over to the Euro Palace on a daily basis, choosing Football Star over real life football – at least until the start of the season. I knew that playing Football Star (or sometimes Shoot!) at the Euro Palace will be a satisfying pastime day after day. Mid-August I finally set the Euro Palace aside to see my favorite team return to the field, and I wasn’t disappointed: although we lost to Burnley, and tied the Spurs, we beat the Gunners 4 to 3. I was excited about these results, but not as excited as by the kind words of Ranieri ahead of the match this Saturday.

Ranieri: Liverpool are one of my favorites to win the league

Leicester City has proven its worth last season, but they are unlikely to win the Premier League this year. Their schedule will be extremely busy this year, with matches in the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the EFL Cup, and the FA Cup. After their visit to Anfield this Saturday, they’ll face Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium. They might lack the drive – or the energy – to win the League for the second season in a row. Instead, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri considers the Reds to be the team most likely prove to be the best one in England this year – at least this is what he told the press.

“We are the champions. It’ll be difficult for us but also for them”, Ranieri told the press this week. “Liverpool are one of my favorites to win the league. They are ready to fight for the title. Liverpool is a very good team and on Saturday we have a very good match. We go there to try and win.” Was it a mind game, or does he really consider Liverpool to be up to the challenge? Let’s see.

The potential

Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his confidence in the team early in this summer, considering that the team has a “great chance” to take the title home this year. He considers the lack of European football to have given Jurgen Klopp’s team a fighting chance. And he knows what he is talking about: he led Liverpool within touching distance of the title in the 2013-14 season. “Liverpool and Chelsea don’t have European football and that’s a huge advantage for you, where you can prepare your team all week for just the one game every week,” he told the Daily Mail this June. “Of course, you’ll have domestic cup games in between that, but I think Liverpool will have a good chance this year.”

With a rested team and not many injuries to worry about, the Reds might be one of the top contenders for the title this season.