LIVERPOOL ARE THE REAL DEAL

LONDON. — The problem for all the teams chasing Liverpool is that I don’t see the Premier League leaders as having any real weakness at the moment.

Arne Slot’s side probably put Manchester City out of the title race by beating them at Anfield on Sunday, to leave them 11 points adrift.

So, if the defending champions are not going to catch Liverpool, then who else can challenge them?

Arsenal are in a good place at the moment, now they have got Martin Odegaard fit. Bukayo Saka looks unstoppable with him back in the team and the relationship between those two is very exciting.

Chelsea are looking strong too, helped by the fact Enzo Maresca is playing a different team in Europe and they are fresh for the weekends.

But Liverpool have got a massive lead on both of them already, and from watching them I am not sure where they are going to slip up.

The Reds have been almost flawless so far, in the Premier League and Champions League, and they are looking like the real deal in every department.

Like a lot of people, I wondered how Slot could follow Jurgen Klopp when he arrived in the summer but he has been immensely impressive so far, and it’s already clear his side are going to be very difficult to stop.

The Christmas period, when games come thick and fast, will be critical but on the evidence of the first four months of the season, they have the strength in depth in their squad to cope.

Even before this week, Liverpool had made an unbelievable start to the season but in the past few days they have played Real Madrid and Manchester City, who have dominated Europe for a long time now, and beaten them both convincingly.

Against City, they were much better in every position. Their midfield overpowered City’s and the 2-0 scoreline did not do their performance justice.

They could and should have scored four or five goals in the first half alone and missed another clear chance after the break, when Mohamed Salah ran clear but fired over.

Liverpool were defensively solid and well organised too. They had injuries to contend with at the back – Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley were both absent after getting injured against Real, but it did not seem to matter. — BBC Sport.