Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol believes Tottenham Hotspur are one of four teams that can win the Premier League title this season after Liverpool learned that they would be without star-defender Virgil van Dijk for a number of months.
Van Dijk is set for an extended spell on the sidelines as he picked up an ACL injury in the Merseyside derby on Saturday, after being on the receiving end of a nasty challenge from Jordon Pickford.
The Reds have looked defensively frail on a few occasions at the start of the season and Nicol believes that losing Van Dijk has now left them even more susceptible to teams that counter-attack with pace.
The 58-year-old named Spurs, along with Manchester City and Chelsea as the teams who can pip Jurgen Klopp’s side to the title this season.
When asked how he foresaw the title race shaping up this season after the Dutchman’s injury, the pundit told ESPN FC (as relayed by The Daily Mirror): “I think the only thing we can foresee is Liverpool struggling with teams countering against them.
“Of course, you talk about Virgil van Dijk, you add Alisson to that because those two players were the catalysts for Liverpool stepping up to a completely different zone in terms of what the team was all about.
“It depends whether Liverpool can outscore teams every time they step on the field.
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“I would say there’s probably four teams that are going to fight it out and it’s difficult, you could find an argument for and against why one of these four teams could win.
“I still think Liverpool could still win the Premier League, but I’m certainly not anywhere near being as comfortable as I was this time last week.
“Liverpool, City, Tottenham and Chelsea for me are the four sides that are going to be competing for this title. It’s tough to think that anybody else could join that four.”
Spurs Web Opinion
With the firepower we now have and the options we can potentially call upon from the bench, we are capable of outscoring every single team we come up against. The question marks with us is at the other end of the pitch. If we can improve the way we defend set pieces, we are certainly going to be up there pushing till the end of the season.
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