"That will surprise one or two" - Alan Smith predicts who will win the Premier League between Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City 

Alan Smith has predicted that Liverpool will win the Premier League title this year.

The Reds fell one point short of champions Manchester City last term and got their campaign off to a disappointing start as they drew 2-2 at newly-promoted Fulham.

Jurgen Klopp's side also lost legendary forward Sadio Mane in the summer, but Smith has backed the German to guide his team to a second Premier League championship this season. Smith told 90min's YouTube channel (as quoted by HITC Sport):

“I’m going to go with Liverpool and that will surprise one or two. At the moment I’m writing off Chelsea. I’m hoping they sink down a little bit and allow Arsenal in there, and Spurs as well.”

Manchester City are many people's favorites to regain the title this season following the arrival of superstar forward Erling Haaland. The Sky Blues got their season off to an excellent start as they comfortably beat West Ham 2-0.

Though the Reds were disappointing in their Premier League opener against Fulham, supporters would have been encouraged by the performance of new record signing Darwin Nunez, who scored and got an assist on his top-flight debut.

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James Milner has high expectations of Liverpool's record signing Darwin Nunez

The veteran midfielder has backed 23-year-old Darwin Nunez to make a big impact on Merseyside for many years to come. The Uruguayan was a revelation at Benfica last term as he netted 34 times in 41 appearances.

He has so far scored in both of his substitute appearances, having netted at the end of the Community Shield against Manchester City. Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Milner stated:

"I think he'll have an impact the whole time he's here, to be honest. Since he's been here, he's [been] impressive on the field, worked hard, makes great runs [and] is desperate to put his head on the ball in the box.

"If you put a ball in there, he'll do everything he can to get on the end of it – good finisher, both feet and he's different to the other boys up there. We've already got some very exciting attacking players who can cause problems, so he's a great addition. He'll be fantastic for us.

"You want options up there, you want to cause people problems, you want to have options to play different ways because obviously teams are going to watch us and try to stop us, so it's important we can do everything. With the options we have up there, I think we have a fantastic mix."