Harry Redknapp has revealed in hisEvening Standardcolumn that he had a bet withBT Sport colleagues Steven Gerrard and Steve McManaman [far left] that Liverpool will finish outside the Top 4 this season.
It was agreed that the losers of the bet will have to pay £500 to charity and now Redknapp seems pretty smug stating that he"still thinks my money's safe" and that "They [Liverpool]are miles away from challenging for the title."
Redknapp also spoke in his columnabout how he feels the situation sits at Liverpoolin terms of progression, his was quite a damning conclusion.
"Everyone got carried away with Jurgen Klopp'sappointment but Liverpoolare no better off than they were two years ago.
They were at their best in 2013-14 with Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge scoring goals for fun under Brendan Rodgers.
You thought, My God, whoever you stick in behind them, it doesn't matter because those three will rip teams to pieces�."
Redknapp continued citing that despite the success in front of goal for Sadio Mane, Phillipe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino have had this season and that"it is hard to argue that trio is comparable with what came before [Sturridge, Sterling, Suarez]."
RedknappdiscussedLiverpool's failure to recruit defensive playerscorrectly and used Monday's Leicester City defeat toillustratethis.
"Lucas played as a centre-back against Leicester and it just isn't his position. He's got no pace, is too small and he got slaughtered by Jamie Vardy.Joel Matip alongside him isn't up to it and both goalkeepers make too many errors."
Possibly a harsh verdict but Redknapp did go on to preview Liverpool's clash with Top four rivals Arsenal and said he wouldn't be surprised ifthe Reds to get their tactics right on Saturday evening.
"Klopp's not under massive pressure yet. They all like him up there and a top-four finish would be progress for them.
It is still within their reach and even though their form has been awful lately, Liverpool raised their game for Tottenham and you can see them doing it again when Arsenal come to Anfield on Saturday evening."
"This is a massive game for Arsene Wenger," Redknapp continued "the mood towards Arsene appears to be turning and another bad defeat in a big game this weekend will take the criticism up a notch again."
Despite Arsenal having had two weeks to recover and focus on the Liverpool game, Redknapp feels this might work against Arsenal in terms of keeping up match intensity.
"Arsene will no doubt welcome a few days out of the spotlight but sometimes it can be difficult to pick up straight away with the same intensity.
They can't afford that at Anfield because you can bet Liverpool will come out of the traps fast, hit the ground running.
This is fourth against fifth. That just goes to show both managers are struggling to prove they are moving forward."