Former Liverpool forward El Hadji Diouf has hit out at his old club for bottling the Premier League title last season as he tips Manchester City to win it again this year.
The Senegalese ace has long seemed to hold a major grudge against Liverpool after a difficult spell at Anfield early on in his career, when he claims, in an interview with FourFourTwo, that he rejected Real Madrid and Barcelona, and on better money, to join the Reds instead.
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It seems Diouf still really enjoys an opportunity to take a dig at LFC, as he mocked the club for failing to win the title, ignoring the fact that they won the Champions League in thrilling style.
The 38-year-old, who also played for the likes of Bolton, Blackburn, Sunderland and Leeds in his career in England, feels Jurgen Klopp’s side should not have missed out on first place when they had a big lead earlier in the season and only lost one game in total.
Meanwhile, he really stuck the boot in by writing off their hopes for this term as well.
“I don’t see them doing as well as they did last season,” he told FourFourTwo.
“They had the chance to win the league title; they had it in their hands and then let it slip.
“They were seven points ahead around Christmas – how Manchester City got it in the end beats my mind. As they say in England, I think they bottled it.
“If you have only one defeat in a whole season, surely you can’t say that you didn’t win the league – so it’s hard for me to imagine them having such a similar season and coming out as champions.
“Manchester City will be the team to beat once again.”