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Liverpool sit second in the Premier League table after an impressive bounceback win over Bournemouth at the weekend and Jamie Carragher has made a fresh title prediction involving the Reds after watching Arsenal’s draw at Manchester City.
Arne Slot’s side responded to their shock 1-0 Anfield defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest a week ago by brushing aside Bournemouth thanks to a Luis Diaz double and Darwin Nunez’s exquisite finish.
That victory has taken them to 12 points after just five games, with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s stunner for Forest the only goal they have conceded in the league so far this term, as Slot has quickly put his stamp on the side in the post-Jurgen Klopp era.
Liverpool trail Manchester City at the top of the table by just a single point after John Stones’s goal deep in injury time snatched City a last-gasp draw against a resilient, 10-man Arsenal on Sunday.
Man City and the Gunners were the only sides to finish above Liverpool last season and are the two favourites in the title race once again. Despite Liverpool’s strong start, Reds legend and current Sky Sports pundit Carragher admits that the big two are still above Slot’s men in the pecking order – a view only enhanced by their enthralling 2-2 draw at the Etihad.
“I think it will be similar to last season where Liverpool are just slightly behind these two teams,” said Carragher on the Gary Neville Podcast. “By next season they could be really improving and maybe looking to go for it when the manager knows everything about his squad.
“Remember he hasn’t really bought anyone. Chiesa is more of a squad player, they bought a goalkeeper from Valencia, Giorgi Mamardashvili, that’s more for next season, so it’s still last season’s team. I still think Liverpool are the third-best team in the league.
“Looking at the two teams we watched today [City and Arsenal], I still just think Man City have got a little bit more. I just look at that attack Manchester City have got, and Kevin De Bruyne wasn’t playing today – I know Martin Odegaard doesn’t play to be fair as well – but I just think they’ve got a little bit more in those attacking areas.”
Carragher’s punditry partner Gary Neville predicted at the start of the season that Arsenal would win their first title since 2004, although he is already second-guessing that prediction after Stones’s last-gasp equaliser.
“I backed Arsenal at the start of the season because I just felt as though when a team’s hunting you down, eventually they get there, more often than not, when they’re getting closer and closer,” explained Neville.
“Today felt like a monumental, defining moment in this journey that Arsenal are on, of trying to get to a league title. Two seasons ago they quite simply fell apart in the last 10 games, last season they went so close, and then you think, right, okay, they’re learning, they’re maturing.
“You just think, where will we be in April and May with this game? Will we be going back to that final minute, and what happened with the John Stones goal, will we be thinking that City win the title by one point, and that moment determines it?
“It’s ridiculous, because there will be dropped points, and there will be mistakes, and there will be lots of victories before the end of the season, but it is that type of situation when you’re up against Pep Guardiola, he makes you feel that way.”
