Date: 27th July 2011 at 3:26pm
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Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson believes that we will finish in the top four this coming season and Arsenal are the team we will replace. Lawrenson believes that Liverpool have bought very well in the transfer market since January and with the current squad we may not win the title but we will be right up there in the top four.

Many people are looking at the race for the top four and Arsenal seem to be the weakest team now in the top four. They have not spent much this summer to bolster their squad and they could easily lose two of their star players this summer in Fabregas and Nasri.

Lawrenson said, “I think Manchester United will win it, then City, Chelsea and then I’m going to say Liverpool in fourth.

“I think with Arsenal there’s too much predictability around the likes of Nasri and Fabregas. In terms of experience, they have also got no centre halves or a goalkeeper and other than Fabregas, no leader. That’s why they fell apart last season.”

“Most crucial will be their involvement in Europe, which Liverpool don’t have. This will be big for Dalglish’s team at the business end of the season, with no travelling all over the continent or playing on Thursday nights. From that point of view, I think Liverpool might just do Arsenal.”

Do you agree with Lawrenson? In my opinion I think, if Chelsea are not careful they may just fall off the rails. They have a new coach and it will be interesting to see how the players react to him. You have a lot of big egos at Chelsea such as Terry, Drogba and Torres to deal with and I doubt a young manager can handle them.

 

26 responses to “Why Liverpool will finish in the top four and replace Arsenal”

  1. Livers says:

    He he, everyone’s been saying Arsenal will be out of top 4 for about 5 years.

    Liverpool have spent 75m on Carroll, Henderson and Downing who wouldn’t make Arsenal’s bench.

    If anyhing, I see City floundering

  2. Dude says:

    I think Arsenal fans should be worried. They lost a lot of games last season and haven’t really improved the squad.Wenger should at least have a centre-half sorted.
    Chelski are too well organised and strong defensively but are an old team. Can see them going through some poor patches.
    You don’t know what you’ll get out of Citeh. Mancini is not the man for the job. Think Maureen will end up there next season if Real don’t win La Liga and Fergie stays on longer.
    Bit worried about Liverpool’s defence. Need some speed and height. Love Carra but he’s as bad as the rest for corners. Agger is always injured. Skrtel is not busy enough for me. Our midfield is the best in the league and in Suarez we have the leagues best player. Confident of top 4 at least. Could finish as high as 2nd if other teams don’t improve.
    United haven’t improved there squad yet. Just like for like. Need a playmaker. They only won it last season because everyone else was average.
    Gonna be a close one methinks.

  3. Livers says:

    Liverpool have the best midfield in the league ????

    Spurs have a better midfield than Liverpool.. christ..

    Arsenal, Utd, Chelsea, City and Spurs finished above you because they have a better midfield. Henderson and Downing wouldn’t get into any of those sides

  4. Daniel (Arsenal Fan) says:

    This is making me laugh. Lawro last season said the same thing.
    I have to agree that arsenal will be 4th, unless Arsene breaks the habit of a lifetime and opens the Cheque book for a tall commanding Centre half.
    But the tripe I have been reading about Arsenal finishing 6th or lower is not really realistic.

    I don’t see how Liverpool have improved with “Drowning” and Henderson. They are about to lose there so called “Best midfield in the League”, (where did that come from)
    Arsenal need a Centre Half and if necessary the money spent from Nasri and Fabregas (whom both shoudl be allowed to leave) on some depth.

    Vermalen will make a huge difference at the back this season and Gervinho looks to have more to his game than Drowning and Henderson.
    Liverpool will not be in a top 4 again this season.

  5. abids says:

    da new season is by d corner let just wait and c wat happened.up reds

  6. Dide says:

    Livers. After Kenny joined only Chelsea gathered more points. We were well back on Spurs and only just missed out on fifth (thankfully!!) your knowledge of football is poor. Henderson is a fantastic young player with unbelievable vision. Downing is the best crosser of the ball in the league. Adam is one of the best passers. Meirless is one of the best attacking midfielders. Lucas has improved beyond all recognition and rarely looses the ball and gets it forward quickly. Before he would pass it backwards. Kuyt is an unbelievable player. Non stop work rate, always involved, unselfish and a great poacher. Nearly all his goals come in the six yard box. And of course, we have Gerrard…remember him?? Spurs have Modric… That’s all. Arsenal have Cesc and Nasri but for how much longer???

  7. Doc says:

    As much as i would like to see liverpool in the top four, anyone who think it would happen and it would be at the expense of arsenal is dreaming…Arsenal ability to break the smaller teams is the hallmark of their trade. they will always have that technical guile necessary to break the sides who park the bus. Matches which over the years, liverpool ends up losing or drawing.

  8. Livers says:

    Dide – My football knowledge is grand thanks.

    Henderson isn’t better than Wilshere or Ramsey.

    Downing crossed more balls than anyone last season but hardly any met there target. A whole new story..

    Meireles ? Attacking midfielder ? Not in my day

    Lucas, had a good season, many had great seasons.

    Gerrard, too injury prone these days.

    Spurs, have Sandro, Bale, Lennon and Modric with Huddlestone, Krancjaar and Palacios in the mix. Much better than Liverpools.

    Sure Liverpool had a good end of the season whilst Arsenal and Spurs in particular had poor ones. Spurs beat you 2-0 when you were just about to back Liverpool for the title this season.

    I think Liverpool have a great forward a great Centre midfielder (when fit) and a bang average defence.

    The only way Liverpool can come top 4 is if others suffer too many injuries in Europe whilst Liverpool are watching Eastenders.

    Then I think they’ll squeeze into Europa at the most.

  9. Chuky 64 says:

    Top four is very possible.

  10. Dude says:

    Half the midfielders you mentioned are trying to be sold by Spurs. The game at the end of the season was when we had lots of players struggling with injuries and to give them there due, Dawson and King were awesome and had to be because we still outplayed you. Our defence needs one centre half or a fully fit Agger. Martin Kelly is way above any right back in the league. Fast, tough, skillful and uses the ball well. Glen Johnson is a far better left-back than he is a right-back, probably because he now defends on his stronger foot. I was having nightmares when it looked like we’d sign Clichy.

  11. Dude says:

    Ramsey is good but not in Hendersons class. Different type of player. As is Wilshire. Henderson is more attack minded.
    As for Meirless, who covers an average of 13km a game, matched only by Kuyt. Who was an attacking midfielder in ‘your day?’

  12. Mark says:

    “Ramsey is good but not in Hendersons class”

    No he’s way above it, even when he had a broken leg

  13. Sparky says:

    LOLLLL liverpool fans dream too much 1st thing , 2nd thing is that i went to see a eden hazard video and most stupid retard commented welcome to liverpool which shows they arent living in the real world more in the gossip shit….3rd Ramsey is way way way better then hendersons adam, 4th walcott and arshavin and nasri are better then downing and dont say about the crossing because arsenal rarely cross the ball so u can match then downing with arsenal wingers, 5th liverpool have signed only rated english players thank god arsenal didnt sign arsenal, 6th wenger has said he will buy a centre defender so u lot should shut up, 7th wilshire is better then hendersons so dont dream and he isnt more attacked mind because fabregas was the attacking mid in our team and song and wilshire were the holding midfielders, so u liverpool fans dont know much about football, 8th gerrand is way off his best years, robin van persie is gonna be fully fit next season as wenger uses him carfully nowdays so u liverpool fans simply……DREAM TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH……!!!!

  14. Gerrardious says:

    @Sparky: Ramsey couldn’t make it into the U-21 team, so wat the hell are u talkin about??
    1da who is dreaming now.

  15. Livers says:

    Gerrardious – Have you just made a mug of yourself ?

    Ramsey is the Wales national team captain…..

    oh dear, and they say you scousers know your football..

  16. Dilan says:

    Speaking from down under livo fans. I admit i am a Arsenal fan and quite frankly fabregas is as good as gone is Juan Mata signs. However we have already replaced nasri with Gerinvho and Juan Mata will replace Fabregas. Wenger will get Gary Cahill. Nasri will not be allowed to leave because he will fill in Fabregas boots untill Mata is comfortable with the play maker role. This transition will take place towards end of year where Nasri will be shunned out by Wenger if he doesnt sign a contract. This year will be tough for Arsenal and if they are stumbling at the start then this year they will finish out of top 4 but livo fans have spurs to worry about.

  17. Dave says:

    Frankly, this article could be titled ‘Lawro embarrasses himself again’. If Arsenal don’t finish in the top four this season, I’ll have this comment tattooed on my scrotum. The very idea that Henderson is better than Ramsey or Wilshere is ridiculous. He’s a decent enough young talent, and Adam’s very useful, but the fact remains that even if Fabregas and Nasri both left – which isn’t going to happen – neither would get in the Arsenal side.

  18. joe says:

    lawronson Is a Liverpool man and I would expect him to favor Liverpool.Lawronos made a prediction based on an Arsenal team without Nasri and Fabregas and no signings at all but tthat is not the case, Arsenal will sign players don’t you worry about that. I hear Juan Mata is on his way to Arsenal,a defender is on the list and possibly a left back so still a lot of business to be done while Liverpool’s business is finished and I’m not really that impressed (Suarez is the exception). Arsenal already have Wilshere and Ramsey , the 2 best young Midfielders in the country. Nasri is staiyng for at least another year, Gervinho played 30 minutes of pre-season games, scored 2 goals, a fantastic finisher. I expect the same top 4.

  19. Greg says:

    It’s funny.. the story on Mata is exactly why we will not replace Arse in the top 4… they buy Mata’s … we buy Downing’s…Adam’s and Henderson’s… they buy world class… we only buy Brit crap..we have the quality to get back into Europa.. but not CL.. until Dalglish gets this “buy only Brit” stupidity out of his system… we will continue to be mid table mediocrity and europa bound..

  20. Tanny says:

    Downing, Henderson and Carrol are a shocking waste of money!!!! Carrol will be the only one of the three who MIGHT make an impact.

    Suarez and Adam, very good signings. Letting Aquilani go, ridiculous – he is your best midfielder considering Gerrard is past it.

    Your defence is poor, no better than Arsenal’s.

    Gunners will beat you to top four easy. Man U will have a poor season so you may beat them, possibly Chelsea too if they dont sign anyone.

    Seriously, Man U were lucky last season. They were poor and it was only cos of the failures of the teams around them that they won league. They have lost van der sar and scholes and brought in young who is average and jones who is no better than rio or vidic. Man u will struggle next year and will not win the title, guarantee it. All the teams around them are desparate to strengthen whereas Fergie has got complacent cos their false win last season and has not bothered doing much in the transfer market.

    Man U will come 4th, if you ‘Reds’ can get your act together then you could knock them out of the top four but only if you get real and stop thinking that players like downing and henderson are going to be anything but average.

  21. Joe says:

    if wenger replaces da dead weight from last season (denilson,clichy,bendtner etc..) den wer only gonna be stronger nx season.. an as 4 henderson bein betta dan ramsey, dnt be silly, ‘he could’nt get into da u21s’, did you see what ramsey did 2 englands u21s for wales, jus go youtube n av a look, hes younger dan henderson n already captains da senior side, i personally think young jay spearing is betta dan henderson, he was class wen he came 2 da emirates… my opinion is liverpool will be battling for 5th with spurs… o yh n FRIMPONG remember da name

  22. Christopher says:

    I have heard a lot of people saying that this will be a big season for liverpool and are expecting them to finish at least in the top 4. Despite having a good second half of the season after Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgeson, I don’t think they will be serious title contenders and may not even finish in the top four. Liverpool have overpaid for players who are yet to fully establish themselves, 40 million for Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson is far too much for two “decent” players. If Arsenal can sort their defensive problems, by buying either Samba or Cahill to accompany Vermaelen in the centre of defence and buy Jose Enrique to fill the gap at full back then I can see them being contenders for the title and should surely finish in the top 4 ahead of Liverpool. Watching Gervinho in pre season he seems to show a lot of promise.
    The only boost Liverpool have over Arsenal is the fact that they aren’t playing in any European competition this season, whether this will have a significant impact throughout the season or not remains to be seen.
    This season I expect to see Chelsea slip, although I do appreciate what Andre Villas Boas has achieved during his managerial career he is still reasonably inexperienced and with Chelsea’s ageing squad I wonder if they can be contenders for the title next season.
    I believe Mark Lawrenson is bias and that this article can be dismissed as well as anything he says regarding Liverpool.

  23. rob says:

    Dont make judgment that liv is lack of quality just based on the last 2 year.. The one and half year liv were much affected by the bad atmosphere caused by their owner.. And also by the bad manager in half 2O10-2011 season .. Dont forget those underachieved team basically the same liv that occupy second not long ago. With new player that add some depth that the team has missed 4 long time and which was the main weaknesses in the past.. An excellent manager whom brings confidence especially more attacking approach than benitez (that had brought too many draws) at least in paper liv have a same chance w arsenal and tottenham to get the top 4. With liverpoll dont play europe is an advantage too.. External factor that should be count too : arsenal atmosphere isn’t good.. U can see that easily .. Even some of their the supporter dont trust the manager.. and tottenham will play in UEFA.. A really bad competition. If u want to focus in league..

  24. Jam says:

    Honestly guys would you have Caroll over Van Persie? downing over Juan Mata (soon to be an Arsenal player)?Gervinho over Ngog? Wilshere or the ageing Gerard? Ramsey or Henderson? Nasri is staying and he is like Suarez only proven goal scorer So look at full picture before making silly predictions. Arsenal always give the impression as the weakest team because of the way they finish the season but generally they play well enough to get themselves in good positions over the whole season.

  25. Chris says:

    liverpool will apparently finsihing above arsenal next season. PAH!the only decent player lfc have signed this summer is adam. Henederson is terrible(worst player at the euro champs u-21 and downing is so overated). Liverpool have overloaded their midfield, they won’t be able to keep everyone happy kuyt,meireles,downing, henderson, adam gerrard etc they will sell some in january. I’d prefer wilshere to henderson, gervinho to downing. liverpool will finish either 5th or 6th.

  26. Dominic says:

    A big LOOOL at all these Arsenal fans putting there silly deluded views on here from pre season.
    Look how you lot have started the season, lost two nill at home to us when you said you were class apart and then lose 8-2(hahahaha). You guys are terrible, I wasnt even nervous when we went to the Emirates last week. As for you Downing and Henderson hater’s, well they havnt been too bad at all have they and made you girls look stupid in you’re back garden. Face it, you guys are average and LFC are back. Enjoy the CL this season as you wont see it for a very long time again.