Mohamed Salah makes Manchester City admission in Premier League title race prediction | OneFootball

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has given his honest verdict on Manchester City’s prospects in the 2025-26 Premier League title race.

Salah spearheaded Liverpool to their second Premier League title win in five years last term, with Manchester City enduring their most difficult campaign in nearly a decade, with the Blues finishing in third place in the table with 71 points.

City have undergone a major overhaul of their first-team squad in recent months – a revamp that, in hindsight, should have begun last summer, as admitted by chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and a failure in conducting which exposed key frailties last term in a Guardiola side that have dominated English football since 2017.

Manchester City have kicked off a new era and bid farewell to an array of senior players who were pivotal to their success over the years, with each of Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan, Scott Carson and Jack Grealish (loan) let go.

An influx of new arrivals gave an early peak through the curtain into what Guardiola is building when Manchester City’s new signings – namely Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki – slotted in seamlessly at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in the summer.

However, City remain vulnerable in defence – an area they did not strengthen in the transfer window gone by – and have sought to replace the departed Ederson with the signings of James Trafford and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Despite an impressive performance to begin their 2025-26 Premier League campaign against Wolves, Manchester City have fallen into their habits of last season and as would be the case with any side undergoing a period of transition, it would not come as a massive surprise to many if Guardiola’s men were to fall short in the title race again this term.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has tipped Arsenal to end their impressive record of finishing second in the Premier League and go all the way and bring the title to the Emirates Stadium this season.

In an interview with Sky Sports, the Egyptian said: “That team (Arsenal), I said that a few times today and also in the PFA award (ceremony) – they are my favourite because they have been playing together for five or six years so they understand each other’s game.

“And they had Arteta with them too for 5-6 years. So when teams stuck together like this long, they know their games better, which makes it easier.”

Despite Liverpool’s impressive transfer window – wherein they spent £450 million to recruit the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez – Salah is expecting Arsenal to learn from their disappointments from recent years to pip Liverpool and Manchester City to the title.

The 33-year-old added: “Other teams such as us and (Manchester) City change many players (in the summer), which is sometimes tricky. But again a team like (City under) Pep Guardiola, they are always favourites. But of course, my opinion is Arsenal (to finish) number one.”