Jamie Carragher claims he sees Liverpool and Chelsea with the advantage as they prepare for next season in top flight football.
A disastrous start to their title defence saw Chelsea slip into the relegation zone and subsequently sack Jose Mourinho. While they staged something of a recovery under interim boss Guus Hiddink, a 10th place finish was not good enough to get them into Europe next year.
Liverpool also missed out on either Champions League or Europa League spots, finishing 10 points but only two places ahead of The Blues. They also lost the opportunity to place in the Champions League after losing the top four with the loss to Sevilla in the finals of the Europa League. However, Carragher believes the lack of extra fixtures will help both sides in their efforts to return to the top table of English football.
He told TalkSport: “A big thing for Chelsea and Liverpool, an advantage for them, is no European football. It might be a bit much for Liverpool going for the title, but they will certainly be looking at the top four
Jurgen Klopp understood to be going into his first summer transfer window as Liverpool boss with big plans to overhaul the squad, having lost out the chance last year. Also, having already sealed deals this year for Marko Grujic, Joel Matip and Loris Karius, the German is expected to rack up the signings in an effort to strengthen the squad.
However, Carragher thinks it is incoming boss Antonio Conte who has the chance to build a title-winning group of players this summer.
“Chelsea always have their sights on the title and it depends on who comes in,” Carragher added. “But it will be a big advantage for Chelsea and Liverpool having no European football.”
