Ex Liverpool trio put Manchester City ahead in title race – One clear reason they believe it

11/09/2024 09:16 AM

Manchester City remain the favourites for the Premier League title over Liverpool this season, simply because they have a striker like Erling Haaland.

That's according to a trio of former Reds, Sander Westerveld, Ryan Bable and Boudewijn Zenden, via Voetbal International, who all believe Liverpool's lack of a striker may come back to haunt them.

Liverpool are currently flying under Arne Slot, sitting top of the Premier League table and the Champions League table at this moment in time.

Slot has quickly adapted to his side of playing, quietly transitioning them from what they'd previously done under Jurgen Klopp.

This has produced great results so far and goals have not been hard to come by, with Mohamed Salah on nine goals in 16 games in all competitions, Luis Diaz on nine goals in 15 games and the likes of Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo all contributing also.

There's been no problems on that front, with the 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League this week a demonstration of that.

Westerveld, Babel and Zenden think that lack of a star striker could be an issue down the line, though, and because of that they put Manchester City, who have Erling Haaland, ahead of their old team.

“I rate City even higher than Liverpool, also because they have Haaland,” said Westerveld.

"Liverpool lacks a potential top scorer for the Premier League. I think of someone like Lautaro Martínez or Victor Osimhen. Before his injury, Diogo Jota regularly played in the center of the front and Darwin Núñez always works hard, he can shoot with left and right and is a good header, but he fires too many blanks."

“Núñez does not appear to be a killer for Liverpool. But on the other hand, with his work ethic, he is still quite important for the team and the other boys up front," added Babel.

"It seems to me that Liverpool would do well to keep looking around for new players, such as for the striker position, and that it would be wise to take the next step."

"City has the best selection in the Premier League. It’s almost no matter who comes in," concluded Zenden.

"There is now no Fernando Torres or Luis Suárez type at Liverpool and Salah is no longer as accurate as he was a few years ago. On the other hand, City now remains very dependent on Haaland, while Liverpool has three to four attackers who take turns scoring and perhaps together can score more goals than Haaland."

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