Danny Higginbotham: Liverpool are actually a worse team than they were last year

Former Manchester United defender Danny Higginbotham says Liverpool have become weaker compared to last season after spending heavily in the summer.

The Reds finished second in the league table as Luis Suarez was the league's top scorer during the last campaign. However, the Uruguayan international left Anfield and completed his switch to Barcelona earlier in July.

Brendan Rodgers signed over half a dozen players in the summer as Liverpool spent over £100m in strengthening their squad. However, Higginbotham says the Merseyside club, who sit 11<sup>th on the league table have failed to make the right additions to their team.

"Liverpool have spent all that money and are actually a worse team than they were last year," Higginbotham told talkSPORT.

"They might not have spent as much as Manchester United but, let's be honest, United needed to spend money and they are far better than they were last season. The aim of spending money in the summer is to make sure you are better than you were last season."

Meanwhile, United finished seventh last season under the guidance of David Moyes. After a disappointing campaign, the 20-times English champions have strengthened their squad after spending over £150m in the summer transfer market.

United also replaced Moyes with Louis van Gaal and Higginbotham believes the Dutchman will help the Red Devils finish in the top four this season.

"United are going to get better as the season goes on. They've got more players and better players to come back [from injury] than those that are actually playing," the former United defender said.

"You've got [Radamel] Falcao, who I believe will be a fantastic player for Manchester United, you've got Daley Blind who started well, [Ander] Herrera's been in and out but he's now back fit and [Juan] Mata seems to be getting things better."

"Tactically he [van Gaal] can set up in different ways. He's played 4-3-3, he's played a diamond and he's played three at the back. He knows what things to do and he knows how to get results."

"If you look at his track record at previous clubs, it takes a few months for him to get going and then what happens is everything falls into place. The players start to understand his philosophy and then they keep rising and rising," Higginbotham concluded.