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Graeme Souness: 'Liverpool will not challenge for major honours'

Graeme Souness expects Philippe Coutinho to leave Liverpool for Barcelona and insists that his former club do not have what it takes to challenge for the Premier League.

Liverpool great Graeme Souness has insisted that the club have little chance of winning the Premier League or Champions League this season, even if they keep hold of prized asset Philippe Coutinho.

The Reds reportedly face a battle to keep the Brazil international in place at Anfield due to strong interest from Barcelona, who have money to spend following Neymar's switch to Paris Saint-Germain last week.

Souness expects Coutinho to move on in the remaining weeks of the window, while also claiming that Liverpool simply do not have enough top-quality options to seriously challenge for major honours.

"I think Klopp needs to make sure Liverpool challenge for the Premier League next season," he told Sky Sports News. "I think that - alongside a run into the latter stages of the Champions League and one of the domestic cups - would be a good season for him.

"But I can't see them winning the Champions League or the Premier League, with or without Coutinho. I don't think [Klopp] has made enough signings to challenge in the big two competitions next season.

"And if they lose Philippe Coutinho, they'll get an enormous figure for him, but at this point of the window, they'll probably end up spending a lot of money on someone they are not sure about to replace him.

"They have to fight to try and keep the player but ultimately the player will decide and for a Latin-American player, Barcelona will always be the place to go."

Liverpool, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, begin their new campaign with a trip to take on Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday lunchtime.

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Philippe Coutinho readjusts during the EFL Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Southampton on January 25, 2017
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2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


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