Liverpool may have been widely tipped win back-to-back Premier League titles, but Mohamed Salah disagrees.
Instead, the Egyptian superstar believes it is time for a perennial bridesmaid to finally take that extra step.
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Speaking to an Arsenal-supporting streamer at Tuesday’s glitzy PFA awards, Salah was asked whether there was any chance he and his Liverpool teammates could slow down.
Instead, Salah responded by hyping up a rival’s chance of dethroning the Reds.
Who does Salah think are favourites for the title?
“I think you (Arsenal) have a great team this season,” Salah said.
“You have a really good chance. I think you are favourites now because you have players that have been together for five years.
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“I can’t say I wish you luck, but hopefully we do it again.”
Should the Gunners live up to Salah’s tag as favourites for the title, it would snap a heartbreaking streak of three straight second-place finishes in the Premier League.
They were five points behind Manchester City in the 2022/23 campaign, only to finish an agonising two points back from the same team in the next term.
However, Mikel Arteta’s side were 10 points off of Liverpool last season as the Reds wrapped up the title with four games to spare.
As Salah noted, the core of this iteration of Arsenal have stuck together for half a decade.
But knowing it is very much now-or-never for his side in their hopes of a first Premier League title since their ‘Invincibles’ campaign of 2003/04, Arteta has splashed the cash on some major summer signings.
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Who have Arsenal signed this summer?
The marquee arrival is undeniably Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres, who joined for nearly £64million from Sporting.
His capture brought an end to the clamouring from pundits and supporters for the Gunners to sign a striker.
Despite the hype around his signing, Gyokeres had a debut to forget in Arsenal’s season-opening 1-0 victory over Manchester United last Sunday as he failed to register a single shot and completed only four passes during his 60 minutes on the pitch.
His competitive debut was brutally branded as ‘poor’ by former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew.
“He looked not quite at it, whether he was nervous or or whatever… it didn’t look what I was expecting because I’m a big fan of his,” Pardew said on talkSPORT.
“I was expecting a little bit more from him today.
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“And I think at 60 minutes to get subbed was you know, what I would have expected with this performance.
“Maybe he felt he should have had a little bit longer, but no that wasn’t the best. I’m surprised.”
Midfielder Martin Zubimendi was another of the summer signings to play against the Red Devils, as he played the full 90 minutes.
Noni Madueke, who moved from Chelsea, also made his debut albeit in the form of a 30-minute cameo on the left wing in place of Gabriel Martinelli.
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Liverpool showed more than enough to remind fans of their qualities as they romped to a 4-2 win over Bournemouth last Friday, despite Salah’s pessimism and Arsenal’s winning start to the season,.
Goals from Salah, Hugo Ekitike Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa did the business as Arne Slot’s side dug deep to take home all three points after they’d blown a 2-0 lead.
