Roy Keane and Arne Slot are in agreement that Liverpool’s Premier League title bid has come as a surprise.
The Reds are nine points clear at the top of the division following a 2-0 win over reigning champions Manchester City on Sunday. City have so far put up an awful defence of their title, having failed to win any of their last seven games in all competitions.
That has left them 11 points adrift of Slot’s Liverpool side, who are running away with things as it stands. Their performances in Slot’s first season as manager have caught many by surprise, including Keane.
The legendary Manchester United skipper hailed the Dutchman for his work at Anfield so far. But he also delivered a scorching verdict of City’s performance on Merseyside, insisting they were ‘way off it’.
“Huge result for Liverpool, great performance. City looked way off it, Liverpool were well ahead of them. Defensively they were rock solid. Liverpool had energy, pace, power, they should’ve scored a lot more goals and had a real desire to keep a clean sheet at the end,” he told Sky Sports.
“Outstanding Liverpool performance. We have to praise the manager Arne Slot as he’s doing a magnificent job but they were a decent group the squad he took over. He’s added his personality to it.
“If you’d have been told that Liverpool would be in the position they are now, you wouldn’t believe them. Their performances, their defence, their big players are turning up for the big occasion.
“It never felt like Liverpool were losing today. It’s a combination of decision-making and quality. Man City didn’t show that intensity. Walker switches off for the first goal. At the moment all their players are just off it and so it’s like the perfect storm for their opposition.”
Slot has also been caught by surprise over his side’s title challenge, though he has insisted the title race is far from over. He said: “I don’t think anyone, including me, would have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a very good place.
“But, still, to win so much with all the difficult teams we have played already is not something you could predict at the start of the season. But, like I say, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City.
“They will come back because these teams have so much quality. They could go on the same run as us, so we have to stay sharp and focused. If you look at work rate, I think it was perfect.
“The amount of chances we missed made it tight at the end, but maybe that’s nice for matches like this. It should be like this. But it would have been nicer to score the second goal earlier. Next week is another big week against Newcastle and Everton.”
