Jose Mourinho, a nemesis of Liverpool supporters down the years, has named the Reds as a title contender for the new season, but with an alarming caveat.
The out-of-work Portuguese joined the Sky Sports team for Sunday’s Premier League fixtures and was asked which teams he believes are in the running.
He named Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and, most notably, ‘Man City’s B team’.
Mourinho pointed towards City’s bench for their 5-0 opening-day victory against West Ham, which included the likes of Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva and new big-money addition Joao Cancelo, as an indication of our rival’s supreme level of squad depth.
“Four: Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Man City’s B team,” he said.
“When I look at the images of the bench yesterday and even some of the players who were not involved, they could fight for the title.”
Mourinho did at least back us to finish comfortably ahead of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.
The emphatic nature of City’s win at the London Stadium has prompted many to effectively declare them champions-in-waiting.
This despite Liverpool’s four-goal victory against Norwich, the extremely tight nature of last season’s battle and our valiant Community Shield display.
Our lads get their next chance to pit themselves against City in November. If they perform anything close to capacity until then, they could leapfrog the defending champions with victory.