Paul Merson has reassessed Liverpool’s campaign this term, suggesting that the Merseysiders will now ‘settle for a top-four finish’ in light of their poor start to the season.
The League Cup holders have already dropped seven points from an available 18 in the opening six league clashes, which included a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford back in August.
“It’s been a far from a good start to the season – it’s all getting reassessed,” the 54-year-old told Sportskeeda.
“At the start of the season, you’d have fancied Liverpool to give Manchester City a run for their money in the Premier League title race, but now I think they’ll settle for a top-four finish.
“They are having one of those bad patches, but you don’t become a bad team overnight.
“Liverpool have enough credit in the bank after what they’ve done in recent seasons, so I expect them to bounce back in the coming weeks.”
It’s a change of opinion from the Englishman in response to the Reds’ humbling in Naples with the ex-midfielder having previously backed Jurgen Klopp’s men to compete with Manchester City for the league crown.
“Erling Haaland’s arrival is obviously a massive boost for Pep Guardiola, but it’s not the end of it with Liverpool still very much in the running. With the departures of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, Manchester City have lost at least 30 Premier League goals between the pair and that could turn out to be a huge problem for them,” Merson previously told the Metro.
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Whilst we can certainly understand some pundits reconsidering their earlier predictions, it has to be said that’s it’s surely still far too early to be making definitive adjustments.
We at the Empire of the Kop maintain it’s far from being likely that the vast array of world-class talent at the manager’s disposal have suffered a sudden and permanent loss of ability.
From a possible ongoing hangover as a result of the physical, mental and emotional toll of a 63-game season last term to the serious injury crisis in the middle of the park, there are explanations for why things have gone so badly wrong at times.
Still, it can’t excuse everything and we’d expect Klopp and his coaching staff to be having serious conversations behind closed doors around how to turn things around during the break.