Jamie Carragher rules two huge teams out of Premier League title race

Jamie Carragher has tipped Enzo Maresca to win the Premier League title in his opening season with Manchester City, while talking down the chances of both Liverpool and Manchester United.

Pep Guardiola brought down the curtain on an illustrious ten-year reign at City earlier this summer and former Chelsea boss Maresca has taken on the daunting task of succeeding the great man at the Etihad.

Maresca will be under no illusions about the sheer size of the shoes he is filling and there will be immediate pressure on the Italian to hit the ground running after two years without a title in the blue half of Manchester.

In an effort to close the gap on Arsenal, City’s hierarchy showed they were more than prepared to back Maresca as they splashed out a club-record £116million fee to sign Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson.

The England midfielder remains the club’s only first-team addition with a month remaining of the window, though, while experienced heads Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake have all been allowed to leave.

With Maresca himself admitting there is work for City to do in the transfer market, reigning champions Arsenal find themselves as the bookmakers’ favourites to come out on top again before a ball has been kicked.

However, when pushed for his favourite to win this year’s title on the Football Ramble podcast, former Liverpool and England defender Carragher picked out City as his slight frontrunners ahead of the Gunners.

‘Where we are right now, and we know there’s still a month to go transfer-wise, I can only see Arsenal or City,’ Carragher said.

‘There’s a question because he [Maresca] is new to the role but I’m a fan of Maresca in terms of what he does on the pitch, in terms of what happened at Chelsea, in terms of watching him tactically and how he set up.

‘The problems they caused Liverpool at times, when Liverpool won the league under Arne Slot, the two Chelsea games, I was looking at them and thinking, “This fella knows what he’s doing”, and I think he’s very capable at the level he’s coaching at.

‘Whether Arsenal will be a lot better because they’ve got the monkey off their back, I don’t know, but I don’t think City were great for a lot of last season and the title still almost went to the wire. If Rodri stays or goes that could be a huge factor.’

Pressed for his end-of-season title prediction, Carragher replied: ‘I think City. The reason I think City is that I think they were still close last year. I know Pep’s gone, I get that.

‘When you’ve had the same manager for ten years, the flip side of what people will say is that it’s hard to come after him.

‘Just something a little bit new, a little bit fresh. I think if Rodri left for Real Madrid then I wouldn’t be saying that but in terms of where they are right now…

‘If you’re City, what’s the point in selling Rodri? What’s the point? Just get another year out of him and let him go for free. He’s the best in his position. What’s £40m for City?’

Despite having high hopes for new manager Andoni Iraola, Carragher is not convinced Liverpool possess the squad to challenge with City and Arsenal for the title this season.

According to the former England international, the Merseyside giants are still lacking two high-quality central defenders and a ‘top’ right winger to replace Mohamed Salah.

‘Right now I don’t think Liverpool are equipped to be thinking about a title,’ he explained.

‘Who knows what’s going to happen over the next month but I don’t think they’re close to that.’

Asked if Liverpool signing a top defender would change his mind about Liverpool’s title hopes, Carragher replied: ‘No, it’s more than that. I think Liverpool need two defenders and a top right winger to be in the chat or be in the chase.

‘They haven’t replaced Mohamed Salah. We’re going for Bradley Barcola and I’m sitting there, scratching my head.

‘The manager and the people sorting the transfers out obviously know a lot more about what’s going on behind the scenes, what the squad needs, than me.

‘But I’m looking at it and we’ve got about four players who can play left wing and we’re going for Barcola. They haven’t got one player who plays right wing in the squad.

‘I’m a little bit worried but what I would say about Liverpool and the people above is I do almost trust them in terms of over the last decade or so with how they go about their business so I do feel like there must be something up their sleeve.’

Carragher is similarly downbeat about United’s title hopes, despite being impressed with their transfer dealings after a previous ‘obsession’ with bringing in ‘big names’.

‘Manchester United won’t win the league,’ he said.

‘The thing I’ve probably liked about United this summer is it has felt like for years that they’re obsessed with this big name. And I worry a little bit about my own club Liverpool with that, with what we did last summer.

‘But what I would say about Manchester United, it doesn’t feel like they’re on this mission to go and get this big name.

‘Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans… sort of what you might think are clever [signings], people not expecting that, something a bit different.

‘It’s not about the name, it’s about what is right for the team and the club, and it feels like United are going down that road which is probably healthy for them because it just felt like it was about spending name, getting the name and keeping the fans happy without any idea of how it was going to work.’

Carragher can envisage a world in which the Champions League becomes a distraction for Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta’s men no doubt still hurting from their painful penalty-shootout defeat to PSG in last year’s final.

‘I just think City with a new manager would be so invested in the Premier League,’ he explained.

‘With Arsenal, I do feel like there will be a thing with the Champions League: they got to the final, they didn’t lose a game in the tournament and they still never won.

‘I have this debate with people and it shouldn’t be a debate but everyone disagrees with me. The Champions League is far bigger than a domestic league and it puts managers, players, the club on a completely different level.

‘I just think if you got to March or April and you’re still in the Champions League, that’s where you’re actually going, “Declan Rice, no, you’re not playing Saturday… you’re playing Tuesday night”.

‘I’m not sure City will have that because Maresca is so, “If I can get this league back”, it’s massive. And I still think, no matter what, they’ve got Erling Haaland up front and you know he’s going to get 30 goals.

‘I still believe with Arsenal that they haven’t got a superstar up front. I thought that would stop them winning the big trophies and I was proven wrong last season.

‘But I still look at them and think that front three shouldn’t win the league, that’s where I look at it. Normally, the attacks of teams have got something a little bit more than what Arsenal have got.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.