Danny Murphy has backed Liverpool to win the Premier League this season, insisting Manchester City are facing an uphill battle to defend their title.
Pep Guardiola's side have been crowned English champions in each of the past two seasons, accumulating a whopping 198 points along the way, with Jurgen Klopp 's men falling agonisingly falling short by a solitary point last year.
The Reds did go on to win the Champions League , beating Tottenham Hotspur to lift their sixth European Cup back in June.
And with Man City desperate to taste continental success of their own for the first time, former Liverpool midfielder Murphy has tipped the Reds to come out on top this year after insisting history is against the reigning champions.
"I think Liverpool will win the league this year," he told the Mirror . "Only one club had done it three times on the trot and I think Man City will be so Champions League focused.
"So I'm going Liverpool, City and then Tottenham , I think they'll take third.
"I actually think fourth will go to Man United . I think Chelsea will do all right and Frank Lampard is a great appointment.
"But United have gone big in the market and the quality they have in the final third - I mean there is doom and gloom around them, but I think they'll surprise a few."
