According to former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, it might be “too soon” for the Reds to mount a meaningful title challenge this season.
Although Jurgen Klopp’s team has performed significantly better than some had anticipated, according to Carragher in an interview with the Liverpool Echo, a lot rests on how Manchester City, the defending champions, manage their match schedule:A year may have passed since then. I still firmly believe that City has the advantage on defense. I don’t believe their team has any significant weaknesses. It depends on how long De Bruyne will be sidelined. They lost Gundogan, a significant player for them who they will eventually miss. Naturally, they will.The question is if participating in the Club World Cup with the additional travel and games
Could Jurgen Klopp utilise his squad more frequently rather than needing to play their best players all the time if Man City is having success in Europe and Liverpool is enjoying the same success in the Europa League? This might work to Liverpool’s advantage. Liverpool needs to check in with themselves in January because you never know.It is somewhat surprising that Carragher doesn’t even bring up Arsenal after coming so close to beating City last season.
In order for Liverpool to compete for first place, they will likely also need to hold off Mikel Arteta’s team, who have looked like competitors already this season.Reducing the average age of the first team was a major factor in the summer roster revamp.James Milner, whose mean age is currently 25.9, is the ninth-youngest player in the league.
With so many games to play both domestically and in Europe, the Reds should be able to compete on all fronts and keep their form throughout the duration of the season. However, whether it will be sufficient to defeat City remains to be seen.
