Michael Owen believes Liverpool could emerge as Manchester City’s main challengers in the Premier League title race this season after their emphatic victory over Manchester United.
Liverpool were in top form at Old Trafford on Sunday, as Arne Slot’s team secured a dominant 3-0 win against United.
Luis Diaz capitalized on two errors by Casemiro to score twice in the first half, while the outstanding Mohamed Salah, who assisted both of Diaz’s goals, netted a third to further extend his scoring record against the Red Devils.
This win maintains Liverpool’s perfect start to the league under new manager Slot, with Manchester City being the only other team to have won their first three matches of the season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, who have closely contested City for the title in the past two seasons, remain unbeaten but dropped their first points of the campaign in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Brighton at the Emirates.
Though the season is still in its early stages, Owen believes that Liverpool have shown enough to suggest they will be strong title contenders, despite Slot only recently taking charge at Anfield.
‘If you ask Pep Guardiola who his biggest danger was it would be a toss-up between Arsenal and Liverpool,’ the former England striker told Premier League Productions.
‘At the start of the season, he might have said Arsenal because you know what you are going to get – same manager, same players plus they have added one or two – but there was a little bit of a question about what would happen at Liverpool with the new manager.
‘Is it going to be a totally new style? Are they going to take a while to adapt? All these questions. Of course the one good thing from a Liverpool point of view is they kept the squad.
‘There was hardly any outgoings, it was a structured squad and he was walking into a squad that has a lot of players at the peak of their powers.
‘There were questions about Liverpool but after three games you think “wow” it is going to take a special team to stop them. They have just swatted United aside.’
Fellow pundit Paul Scholes was inclined to agree and believes Liverpool could suprass the levels hit by Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.
‘They could really challenge for that title this year,’ Scholes said. ‘Before a ball had been kicked I thought it was going to be Arsenal’s year to give City a real go and possibly go on to win it.
‘But after watching the first three games, I think Liverpool could go past Arsenal. They were up there for a long part of the season last year, they only fell away in the last few games.
‘If they keep that squad together and the majority of that fit, I think that is a team that can challenge City without a shadow of a doubt.’
