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Rio Ferdinand has tipped Liverpool to retain their Premier League title this season, despite admitting to a misstep with his Tottenham prediction.

The top flight is set to return after a three-month hiatus, with the reigning champions hosting Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday evening. Arne Slot's Reds will be aiming for a strong start following their dominant performance last season, while Andoni Iraola's Cherries hope to cause an upset after narrowly missing out on European qualification.

Liverpool are widely expected to secure back-to-back titles, a sentiment echoed by Ferdinand. He predicts Arsenal will finish second again, followed by Manchester City and Chelsea completing the top four.

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At the other end of the spectrum, Ferdinand believes the newly promoted sides – Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland – will all face relegation. However, his mid-table predictions are somewhat unconventional, and he made a quick U-turn regarding Spurs.

Using a TikTok filter that randomly selects teams, Ferdinand attempted to predict the final league standings. This method led to some surprising placements and subsequent revisions, reports the Mirror.

In total, the former England centre-back reconsidered his initial positions for five teams, including prematurely placing Thomas Frank's Tottenham above Newcastle in fifth and assigning Crystal Palace, Brighton and Aston Villa to the lower half of the table.

"[Wolves] I'm gonna go 16th. [Nottingham] Forest, because they're in Europe, I'm gonna put them down a little bit this season...I'm gonna go ninth. Everton, I'll go middle of the road somewhere, 13th," Ferdinand began.

"Fulham 10th. Arsenal, No. 2. Burnley just down [18th]. Chelsea fourth and Man City, I'm gonna go third, still on a hangover. I'm gonna go eighth for West Ham.

"Newcastle, now I'm gonna go sixth. Man United seventh, but could be sixth United. Brentford, 17th, lost some good players, man, lost their manager too."

Ferdinand then recognised he had made a mistake whilst selecting his final league table through the randomised approach, as he declared: "What am I thinking, Brighton should be eighth, but got to go 11th now.

"Liverpool, first, they're gonna win it, unfortunately. Bournemouth 12th. Sunderland, bottom [20th], down. Oh, Spurs, Spurs aren't finishing fifth. Got to put them fifth, but Newcastle should be above Spurs.

"Oh, [Aston] Villa! Another one I've missed. Villa are 14th," he chuckled, suggesting he should have placed them considerably higher. "[Crystal] Palace are 15th as well. Leeds, my old team, is 19th, unfortunately.

"I want Leeds to stay up, but I don't think they're capable. All three teams that have come up will go down. I've messed up. You know who I'm confident is gonna finish higher than I've said here.

"Palace will finish higher than 15th. Villa will 100 percent finish higher than fourth and Brighton will finish higher than 11th. All the others are around about where they should be, Spurs are too high actually."

Rio Ferdinand's Premier League 25-26 predictions

1. Liverpool

2. Arsenal

3. Man City

4. Chelsea

5. Tottenham*

6. Newcastle*

7. Man Utd

8. West Ham

9. Forest

10. Fulham

11. Brighton*

12. Bournemouth

13. Everton

14. Aston Villa*

15. Crystal Palace*

16. Wolves

17. Brentford

18. Burnley

19. Leeds

20. Sunderland

*Denotes Rio Ferdinand subsequently claiming he had these teams in the wrong positions

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