John Barnes backed Liverpool for a top-three Premier League finish next season, although the Reds great believes the title race will be between Arsenal and Manchester City again.
Pep Guardiola's City overcame Arsenal in a two-horse title tussle last campaign, with Mikel Arteta's Gunners already strengthening for next term by signing Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
Jurgen Klopp's side were far from their best in the 2021-22 season but battled to a fifth-place finish to secure Europa League football for the upcoming campaign.
Liverpool have bolstered their midfield options by bringing in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, with Barnes expecting the Reds to return to the top four this time round.
"As I've mentioned in the last year the injury situation really worked against us last season," Barnes, a two-time First Division winner with Liverpool, told Stats Perform.
"And of course, from that perspective, in terms of the age of the players we have to reduce the age and we did that in terms of the young players we had.
"So, it's a bit of a transitional period, not just in terms of the injuries and not having all the players available, but also in terms of having younger players coming into the squad.
"We have to give them time to develop and to grow to show their consistency. So, I have no doubt that we will be back, I'm not going to say we're going to win the league, but we'll be much closer to the top and I fully expect us to be in the top three next season."
Experienced midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, two staples of Liverpool's title-winning side under Klopp in the 2019-20 term, are expected to depart for Saudi Arabia.
The additions of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai will aid Klopp's cause but former England international Barnes believes Guardiola's City will again have too much quality to be overthrown at the top.
He added: "City are favourites, I think Arsenal have strengthened very well in terms of the players they've got with Declan Rice and Havertz, therefore they will be strong once again.
"There was a little bit of inconsistency towards the end of last season, but that will stand them in good stead. So I'll make those two, alongside ourselves, those two will be the main targets.
"Manchester United will also be stronger as well because of the harmony that they have within that squad and the lack of uncertainty in terms of the manager and the players and who's in charge.
"Chelsea will be interesting, to see how [Mauricio] Pochettino handles that situation. And Tottenham, with a new manager [Ange Postecoglou] from Australia, are they going to take that if all of a sudden they don't win matches?
"Are they then going to be negative because he's not a European? So yeah, I think that probably leaves ourselves, Arsenal and Manchester United [for the top four]."
Former Reds midfielder Lucas Leiva echoed Barnes' sentiment, suggesting Liverpool are strong enough to compete alongside the likes of City, Arsenal and United for the title.
"The top six, normally you expect all of them to challenge," the Brazilian said. "City is in a great moment, Arsenal are improving every year as well.
"I think Chelsea are playing only in the league this year. I think that could be better for them. I would say they could concentrate only on the league.
"And Liverpool like every season will be stronger. United as well. So the teams that we expect to challenge. City today are the team to beat but Liverpool are strong enough to compete for sure."
'I don't celebrate goals any more' - Postecoglou bemoans VAR after Arsenal defeat
Ange Postecoglou admitted "I don't celebrate goals any more" after VAR denied Tottenham during their north London derby defeat by Arsenal.
Spurs were beaten 3-2 by their rivals, who kept their Premier League title challenge on track, despite a late rally having trailed 3-0 at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Trailing 1-0 to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own-goal, the hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven slotted past David Raya, However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.
Arsenal took advantage of their let-off with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz increasing their lead, while second-half strikes from Cristiano Romero and Heung-Min Son proved academic for Tottenham.
"Games aren’t refereed in the stadium any more," Postecoglou told reporters during his post-match press conference. "I don’t celebrate goals any more.
"You've got to wait for somebody down the road. It’s a shame, I don’t like it, but I’ve got to accept it."
The Spurs boss was pleased with his side's response after the break, and hopes his players will benefit from the disappointment of losing the derby.
"It's a big day for our club and our fans, and we didn't get the outcome we wanted, so it's obviously very disappointing," he added on SpursTalk.
"You can go out in the second half and accept your fate that it's not your day, but we had to show some resilience and fight - just for our supporters more than anything else. To be fair to the lads, they did that.
"We just lacked some focus today in key moments, particularly in the first half. Sometimes, you've got to feel the pain of it to learn that lesson properly."
Arteta was 'praying' Arsenal held on for derby victory
Mikel Arteta was "praying" Arsenal clung on as the Gunners held off a late Tottenham fightback to claim a 3-2 north London derby victory on Sunday.
Arsenal looked to be cruising at 3-0 up after a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own-goal put the Gunners ahead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, before Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz extended the visitors' lead.
However, a David Raya mistake allowed Cristian Romero to cut the deficit before a Son Heung-min penalty threw Arsenal's lead into further peril after Declan Rice brought down Ben Davies.
The Gunners held on, though, despite some late pressure, a period in which Arteta conceded he was fearing the worst.
"I was praying," Arteta told reporters. "It was a really emotional game.
"3-0 up you're in control, and then an individual error happens that clicks something. We started to deal with the situation better, but they have the players to put a lot of courage forward."
Along with the derby day spoils, the win extends Arsenal's lead at the Premier League summit to four points, temporarily at least with closest rivals Manchester City taking on Nottingham Forest later on Sunday in the first of their two games in hand over the Gunners.
The destination of the title remains in the hands of Pep Guardiola's City, who overtook Arsenal last term to claim a fifth Premier League title in six seasons last term after the Gunners led for much of the way.
Arteta believes Arsenal are better-equipped this time to go on and win the title, however.
When asked if Arsenal have the ability to go all the way, Arteta replied: "100%.
"I’ve seen that the whole season. They give me reason to believe that every single day. The motivation for what is ahead is beautiful."
'We fought until the end' - Saka 'delighted' as Arsenal withstand late Spurs surge
Bukayo Saka saluted Arsenal's fighting spirit as they withstood a late Tottenham revival to claim all three points in the north London derby.
Mikel Arteta's side prevailed 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to extend their lead at the Premier League summit to four points over second-place Manchester City with three matches remaining, though the Citizens still have two games in hand.
The Gunners surged into a 3-0 lead before half-time with Saka and Kai Havertz on target after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own-goal broke the deadlock.
The winger's 15th goal of the season - his highest tally during a single term - saw him become the first English player to score home and away for Arsenal against Tottenham in the same Premier League campaign since Ian Wright in 1993-94.
However, the visitors given a late scare with Cristian Romero pouncing on David Raya's error to pull a goal back, before Heung-Min Son's 87th-minute penalty set up a grandstand finish.
Nevertheless, they held on for three points and, though the destiny of the title is out of their hands, their challenge remains very much alive.
"The last 20 minutes weren't nice, but it was worth it," Saka told Sky Sports.
"We know it's a big derby, and they don't want to lose 3-0 at home. Once they got one goal, the crowd were up and the momentum shifted their way. But I'm proud of the boys. We fought until the end, and got the three points.
"We showed our level heads at the end, and I'm proud to get the win. We know what it means to the fans and to us, so we're delighted.
"This is a massive win for us. We've got three [matches] to go, we're going to give it everything. City are an amazing team, but they're not perfect - nobody's perfect, they can drop points. We just need to do our job and see where it leads us."
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