Pros and cons: Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City assessed
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Sky Sports or go back to LFC Live.
With the Premier League returning this weekend, Sky Sports assesses the pros and cons of title challengers Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City...LIVERPOOLSky Sport's' Richard Morgan: Con: History is against the RedsThere is a reason Opta's supercomputer rates Liverpool's chances of retaining their title at just 7.1 per cent and that is because only four teams in Premier League history having ever managed to claw back a deficit of eight or more points at this stage of the season to win the title [although Man Utd have done it four times and Man City twice]. Watch the full interview on 'Inside Liverpool' Sky Sports News at 19:00 Until Arne Slot can fix the glaring defensive problems that have blighted his team all season - the champions have conceded two or more goals in seven of their 11 games this campaign, the joint second-worst record in the top flight - then they can forget about defending their title.
Con: Off-colour stars not performing Image: Liverpool spent £446m on signings this summer - including Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz, but are seven points off the Premier League summit Slot said after Liverpool's recent 3-0 loss at Man City that his side cannot spend time thinking about the title race until they have fixed the many issues which have seen them slump to eighth in the table. Pro: Can the Gunners stand the heat?There does, though, remain that nagging feeling that the seemingly impregnable Arsenal machine may falter again down the closing stretch, as has happened in recent seasons - Mikel Arteta's side blew an eight-point advantage in April 2023 to finish five points behind eventual champions Man City, while they also held leads in the past two seasons before fading late on.And let's not forget either that we are still only in November, with 27 games left to play, which is a lot of football and plenty of time for injuries and loss of form to kick in.Pro: Reds have been there & got the T-shirtLiverpool now have, on paper at least, a favourable run of fixtures - they only face one of the current top 10 before travelling to Arsenal on January 8 - to try and get their stuttering season back on track.And with an almost fully-fit squad from which to now pick from, including influential goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who due back after the international break, Slot can approach this upcoming schedule with the core of the title-winning side that went unbeaten in the league from September 14 to April 25 last season.
Seven of Arsenal's 11 opponents so far this season have failed to score against them. Arsenal have only conceded twice from open play all season.