Rickie Lambert scored twice across 25 Premier League games for Liverpool (Picture: Getty)
Rickie Lambert has backed his former side Liverpool to finish above Arsenal this season and believes they will secure second in the Premier League.
Arsenal have enjoyed an impressive start to the 2022-23 campaign and sit top of the table after their opening nine games.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are down in 10th having only won two top-fight games thus far and were beaten by the north London side 3-2 on Sunday.
The Gunners, though, have not finished in the Premier League top four for six seasons in a row and Lambert feels that Jurgen Klopp’s team will once again finish above them.
Speaking about Liverpool’s struggles this term under Klopp, Lambert told talkSPORT: ‘This is probably the first time he might have made a mistake, not brining [enough] players in [this summer].
‘I don’t want to criticise too much. The way they have competed with Manchester City is beyond belief.
‘The fact that we’ve off the pace this year is a little worrying, but it’s understandable.
‘I think we will come back. I think we will finish second. We are more than capable of winning 10 or 15 games on the bounce.
‘I think Arsenal have started brilliantly, but I think they will realise how hard it is to get over 90 points. Manchester City are going to do it easily again.’
Liverpool’s poor start to 2022-23 is a dramatic shift from last season, when the Reds were two games away from achieving an unprecedented quadruple.
They were forced to settle for a domestic cup double, winning the FA Cup and League Cup, having missed out on the Premier League title by a single point on the last day of the season and losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid.
Since Klopp became Liverpool manager in 2015, he has also helped them win the Champions League and Premier League in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively.
Liverpool are back in action on Sunday when they travel to face champions Manchester City.
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‘[Arsenal] will realise how hard it is to get over 90 points…’