Danny Murphy does not believe that his former side Liverpool will challenge for the Premier League title in the upcoming season.
England's top-tier gets underway on Friday night as Manchester United take on Fulham at Old Trafford in campaign's curtain raiser.
Liverpool's new era under Arne Slot will begin the following lunchtime away at promoted side Ipswich Town, as they look to challenge Manchester City for the crown once again.
However, the Reds are still yet to make a signing under Slot, with their top target, Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi, turning down the chance to move to Merseyside.
Due to the lack of transfers, Murphy isn't confident they have what it takes to challenge for top spot. 'I expect them to be top four, but I don't think they'll overcome City,' he said on talkSPORT.
Danny Murphy does not think that his former side Liverpool will be in the Premier League title race
Arne Slot's reign at the Liverpool helm begins on Saturday away at promoted Ipswich Town
The Reds missed out on top target Martin Zubimendi as the Spanish mdifelder opted to stay at Real Sociedad
'They can't win it with this squad can they? I don't think so. They'll be better, of course they would.
'Significant new signings - yeah, I think a centre-half and a holding midfielder. When you look at the two best teams in the country last year with Rodri and [Declan] Rice, Liverpool don't have that.
'And although [Wataru] Endo and [Alexis] MacAllister did well in certain games and certain periods, that consistent person in the middle of the pitch who's physically dominant and able to control games like those two do, Liverpool don't really have.'
Liverpool are set to start the 2024-25 campaign with no new blood among their ranks, but they have until August 30 to get bodies through the door.
However, Murphy's worries stem from their failure to bring in a top-quality holding midfielder, a position they have struggled to recruit in the past two seasons.
Murphy added: 'You can't judge a team's signings until the window's closed. Big signings and real high-quality players sometimes take a while to get over the line.
'You know what the domino effect does in the transfer market, we've seen it many, many times. One big one goes from somewhere that knocks on.
'They will be hugely disappointed that they didn't get Zubimendi because I think they thought that was over the line. They lost out to [Romeo] Lavia and [Moises] Caicedo last year and now they've lost out to Zubimendi as well. It's not great, especially when they need a player in that position.'
Both Moises Caicedo (left) and Romeo Lavia (right) joined Chelsea over the Reds last summer
Liverpool regularly deployed Alexis Mac Allister (left) and Endo (right) in the holding midfielder role in Jurgen Klopp's final campaign as boss
Despite the lack of signings at Anfield this summer, Murphy still believes that Slot can improve the players at his disposal.
'If they sign nobody, I still think they'll improve because of the fact so many of those young players are getting better. You'd expect Darwin Nunez to get better and convert more chances.
'You'd expect the young players like Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones, [Conor] Bradley, [Jarell] Quansah to all have improved with the experience they had last season.
'I mean [Luis] Diaz missed half the season. Diaz is a super talent. Keeping him fit is going to be a big thing.'