'Vintage Premier League season' - CBS Sports Golazo analyst Geoff Shreeves on Arsenal's depth, Liverpool's struggles and Wrexham's Championship reality check

GOAL: You'll be covering the Champions League quite a lot this year. Who do you like to win it?

SHREEVES: Having been in Munich and seeing what PSG did last year, it was just astonishing. I don't think I've ever seen such a one-sided final. This is against a smart team, a wise team. They absolutely destroyed them. They decimated them, and ground them into the dirt. They haven't necessarily had the same flying start, but I don't think you can discount the holders, even if it is very difficult to retain the Champions League. You've also got to look at the top two teams in Spain.

And then if you look at the English clubs, I like Arsenal. You've got genuine competition for places, real competition for places. I mean, it's embarrassing that I think it was, 5,000 Arsenal fans started a petition that they didn't want Noni Madueke. That was just nonsense. And the start he made when they were missing Saka? The other one is Masquera. I thought he had a cigar and carpet slippers. It was ridiculous, the way he was so composed.

They've got competition all over the pitch, and that's before you start looking at the likes of the generational talent that is Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri. It's just staggering. You know, there's so much there. I think they can compete on all fronts. So I think they're well equipped to have a right good go.

GOAL: Does that make them title favorites?

SHREEVES: Remember when Liverpool flew out the traps and they signed Wirtz? And there was the talk of getting Isak? And the amount of people who said "Let's not bother. Just give them the trophy." Arsenal started to falter a little bit, so it's all over. So no, I wouldn't say Arsenal win it. They've got a great chance. Would I say it's definitely going to happen? Not in a million years, because that's the beauty of the Premier League. Look at the Premier League table right now. Look at Bournemouth, look at Sunderland. It's fantastic.

I think we're in for a vintage Premier League this season. Last season, you have to admire what Arne Slot did at Liverpool. But they won it pretty much at a canter, and the bottom three were gone quite early. I said at the start of the season, I think we're seeing much greater competition at the top spot, and I think we'll we'll have far more teams involved in the relegation scrap. At the moment that's looking fairly prescient. It's a rare example of me actually being right.

GOAL: So what's going on with Liverpool then? They're doing a fair bit of losing at the moment.

SHREEVES: Well, Isak didn't have a proper preseason, did he? He's not come in in the condition that you would hope or expect. He's a racehorse, he's a thoroughbred, he's a fantastic footballer. Wirtz, where he's playing - has he played in that specific position before? Then you've got the Salah conundrum, Kerkez looks like he's struggling. So the balance of the team has changed. There's no question that things have changed there. I'll never forget Arsene Wenger said to me once - I was badgering about whether he's going to sign a player - and he said "Geoff, never forget, it's possible to subtract by adding."

And he's spot on. Now, I'm not saying Liverpool have gotten it wrong. They bought fantastic footballers, but you know, this is not like just putting players in and saying "There you go, get on with it." They have to find their feet. They have to find their way. So it's teething problems. But this, this Liverpool squad, is equally capable of going on a run and really challenging whoever sits at the top. People are saying "Yeah, it's Arsenal's." I would just remind people, they're saying the same thing about Liverpool less than six weeks ago.

GOAL: The fascination in the U.S. with Wrexham really can't be understated. But it seems like - not that the magic's over - but they're outsiders to get promoted. This seems like a mid-table season. Is the magic maybe a little bit over because of that?

SHREEVES: I said exactly that at the start of the season. They wouldn't say it publicly, but the owners of Birmingham and Wrexham, if you offered them mid-table this season, at the start of season, they'd snatch your hand off. It's a massive leap. You've brought players up from League One. That's a huge jump to the Championship, a huge jump. And then it's like anything that goes up a division. It's difficult for coaches.

You've got a team, you've also got a successful unit, which is cohesive, is happy, and functions as a group of people. But the players that bring you up aren't necessarily the players to get you to the next stage, or indeed, to keep you in your newly promoted position. So it's almost like you've got to completely reassess everything, all over again. You've got to go again. Of course, it's possible.

I never thought that either of them would romp it. Absolutely no chance. I'll try to recall from the start of the season. I think I said Wrexham, maybe, if they have the season of their lives - bear in mind what they've done - maybe a squeak off the playoff place. But that's about it.

GOAL: You were working for CNN in the '90s. What have you made of American soccer culture now? How much has it changed?

SHREEVES: It's massively different. I get asked this a fair bit, and people say, "Oh, you know, it's not one of their big sports. There's not the same amount of interest." You can't argue that the numbers aren't the same as the other traditional sports. But I would equally counter that with American soccer fans are so knowledgeable that actually as an analyst or a pundit, you have to work doubly as hard because they know their stuff so well. I find the American audience one of the most knowledgeable sets of fans.

GOAL: When you say "Work doubly as hard" you mean they know their stats in and out? What's so specific?

SHREEVES: They follow the game. In fairness, let's be honest, we've got motor cars and electricity since I started covering the game. But not just in general. The amount of information that is available to fans is and which is enthusiastically consumed by football fans around the world now is absolutely incredible. Because in the old days, you could say, "I think they're vulnerable at the back to headers. I don't think they've got height in the team. Now, you immediately get something on social media or from somewhere with a stat they have the second-tallest team in the Premier League.

See what I'm saying? So you've got to be a lot, lot more accurate. You can't just generalize. You can't just give kind of an overall view. You've got to back it up with information. But I do think the American audience, it's definitely changed. It's a far, far, far bigger audience than when I first started, all that time ago. Again, if you think of my sphere, which is Premier League, Champions League and the English-based competitions, just the sheer amount of American owners now brings that interest into English football, as well.

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