Pep Guardiola watching on during Manchester City vs Feyenoord
Alan Shearer has told Arne Slot a win for Liverpool against Manchester City on Sunday would knock the reigning champions out of the title race.
Pep Guardiola's City started the season strongly, but have lost three on the spin in the Premier League. The dismal run leaves them eight points adrift os Slot's league leaders, and that gap will rise to 11 if Liverpool beat them at Anfield on Sunday.
It's not only in the league where City have struggled. They've lost five of their last six in all competitions, and threw away a three-goal lead to draw with Feyenoord on Tuesday night in their latest Champions League outing.
Guardiola made it clear he wasn't ready to throw in the towel in the lead-up to Sunday's top-of-the-table clash. Shearer, however, has reminded both managers of what's at stake.
"Liverpool smell blood, it’s at Anfield and Man City are haemorrhaging at the moment and teams are going after them," Shearer told Betfair. "They’ll look at the vulnerabilities and go after them. That’s the brutality of the Premier League and football.
"Liverpool will be out to make a statement and you’d fear for Man City if Liverpool get an early goal in the first 15 minutes. With how fragile Man City are, if Liverpool score one, they could get a few."
Shearer suggested 11 points would be "too much" for City to make up, and argued the momentum is very much not in the champions' favour. "Some people are saying that this could be the game to kickstart City’s form again, but looking at the last six games, I don’t think that will be the case, no," he added. "But, football is crazy and sometimes throws up the most ridiculous results."
Can Manchester City surprise Liverpool on Sunday? Have your say in the comments section
Liverpool go into Sunday's game off the back of a victory over Real Madrid (
Image:
Getty Images)
Despite City's recent struggles, Reds boss Slot isn't underestimating the opposition. Liverpool boast a perfect record in Europe and in the Carabao Cup, and have lost just once in the league, but their manager recognises City still have plenty of quality in their squad.
"I don't think anyone in last eight or nine years or maybe even longer would have said City at home or away -- the word easy comes to mind," Slot said. "I know everyone looks at their results but if you face them, and that is what we do, you analyse it.
"Against Brighton, they were 1-0 up, could have scored two or three and didn't and then got beat 2-1. Against Tottenham, they could have been after 20 minutes two or three goals up. Against Feyenoord, that has not happened many times. They were 3-0 up, completely dominated the game and it ended up 3-3.
"They are still a very, very, very good team and one of the reasons why I think Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world is he always comes up with solutions for his problems. His problem now might be that Rodri is out but we all know that he will come up with a solution and their run of form will go again. Hopefully it is after Sunday."
Join our new WhatsApp communityand receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read ourPrivacy Notice.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more