Liverpool sit 14 points off the pace in the Premier League title race ahead of the clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium
Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has disagreed with Roy Keane’s claim that the Reds are “poor champions”. The Manchester United icon slammed Arne Slot’s side for the defence of their Premier League crown after falling significantly behind in the title race.
Arsenal had the chance to move eight points clear in the title race after slip-ups from Manchester City and Aston Villa with a win over Liverpool in north London on Thursday. In doing so, they would create further daylight between themselves and Liverpool taking the gap to 17 points with a win.
The Reds made a strong start to their title defence but cracks began appearing early on as they squandered leads against Bournemouth and Newcastle United, while they were far from convincing against Burnley, Atletico Madrid and Everton before their collapse began in late September.
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The defeat to Crystal Palace sparked an incredible losing defeat for Liverpool which saw their lead at the summit diminish and confidence sapped.
Keane argued that there are similarities between the title defence under Jurgen Klopp and their current pursuit of retaining their place at the summit of English football.
He said: “They’ve been poor champions, poor champions. When you look at how many points behind…when you win the title for big clubs, it’s about what you do the following season and when they won it four or five years ago, the following year they were way off it as well.
“There’s reasons for that, injuries and recruitment. To be so far off it, to be 13 points (worse off) than they were last year, it’s a big drop off.”
Liverpool were widely tipped to defend their crown with Manchester City expected to remain in a transitional period under Pep Guardiola.
While the Reds were favoured ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side after a summer splurge that saw Liverpool twice shatter their transfer records to land Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.
Sturridge argued that injuries to key personnel, including Isak and Hugo Ekitike, has played a part in their struggles.
The former England international said: “You’ve made the case there that if they were poor champions, if they had players available and you could argue then they’d be poor champions defending their title.
“We can’t negate the fact that they’ve lost players that they’ve spent money on, of course Diogo Jota god rest his soul, we’re looking a different team, a different philosophy.”
Despite Sturridge’s interjections, Keane doubled down as he accused the Reds of not matching their expectations as champions. He said: “They’re the challenges that you face when you’re champions, people are after you, injuries, setbacks but they’ve not done the hard yards.
