With Liverpool vs Manchester City at Anfield now under a month away, the Premier League title race is taking shape. The argument that the Reds haven’t played anyone good yet no longer applies while the sample size under Arne Slot is growing by the game.
The basic facts are indesputable: 15 games, 13 wins, a draw, and a solitary defeat. Under the new Dutch head coach so far, Liverpool has conceded only 10 times.
On what was clearly an excellent day for Liverpool, with both Manchester City and Arsenal not just slipping up but losing to Bournemouth and Newcastle respectively, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah ensured the Reds had no such issues.
It was a well-deserved 1-0 at half-time [but] we had completely different energy after the break and got what we deserved I think,” Virgil van Dijk said post-match. But Manchester City and Pep Guardiola were not in such a good mood, and just like with Arsenal last week, they were quick to point to injuries.
Rodri, clearly, is a huge loss. But if you actually go through the wider situation, it looks a lot like the Arsenal injury crisis that has already disappeared as quickly as Mikel Arteta was able to point to it.
Among those that Guardiola named as contributing to an injury “emergency” heading into the Bournemouth match, Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol and Manuel Akinji started at the Vitality Stadium, and Kevin De Bruyne, Savinho and Jeremy Doku made the bench.
Liverpool, of course, is currently missing two nailed-on starters in Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota and two useful squad players in Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa (plus Ibrahima Konate, now, after he went off in pain at half-time). Not once, though, has Arne Slot sought to find an excuse.
Indeed, when his side was playing poorly and struggling first half against Brighton, he made a decisive double change, bringing on Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz. They both duly played a part in winning the game with a sweeping move finished by Salah.
When Liverpool lost to Nottingham Forest, it would have been easy to point to Elliott being out, for instance, as one fewer option that Slot could turn to in order to change the game around. Instead, Liverpool simply looked to ensure a similar performance didn’t happen again.
While Guardiola, like Arteta, was all too keen to point to absences that might explain his side’s second defeat in a row, Liverpool has taken the lead in the Premier League race. Fifteen games in, no excuses required.
In any case, the wider injury picture is clear — and not quite as different from Liverpool as Guardiola and Arteta might like you to believe. Liverpool, too, has injuries. The difference is that the Reds have enough threat to be winning most games regardless
