Micah Richards has proclaimed that Liverpool are ‘favourites for everything’ this season and still haven’t reached their peak in the current campaign.
Prior to today’s clash against Fulham, the Reds have won 19 of their first 22 matches under Arne Slot, leaving them top of both the Premier League and Champions League standings by four and three points respectively (and with a game in hand on second-placed Chelsea in the former).
Arguably their most impressive result and performance of 2024/25 so far was the 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in late November, avenging a decade of agony against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Richards wowed by Liverpool this season
In the latest episode of The Rest Is Football, Richards pointed to a comment from Los Blancos’ manager after that match at Anfield which attests to Liverpool’s brilliance in recent months.
The pundit said: “I was in the press conference with Ancelotti after the Real Madrid game as well and he was saying Liverpool are the best team they’ve played in the Champions League. I think that’s massive coming from the Real Madrid manager. Yeah, they look dangerous at this moment in time.
“I keep saying it, they’ve still got a level to go. They’re in a great position now but they still can play better. Even Slot was talking about it; he wasn’t happy with the performance [v Girona on Tuesday].
“They let teams play in the first half and, if a team was to score in the first half, it’s how they would react to it, but somehow they’re managing to keep clean sheets or keep the game down to a bare minimum and then in the second half they’re lifting off. It’s mad to see. They’re favourites for everything.”
Carlo Ancelotti had high praise for Liverpool after Real Madrid's recent defeat at Anfield
(Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
So far so good for Liverpool – can they fulfil Richards’ favourites claim?
When it comes to the Champions League, no manager can hold a candle to Ancelotti’s record of five triumphs in the competition, so for the former Everton boss to say what he did about Liverpool is quite the compliment.
Richards made reference to the Reds’ curious tendency to start games slowly this season but still prevail more often than not by the final whistle, a trend which suggests that they have a couple more gears to find but may need to do so if sloppy performances were to catch up with them eventually.
Slot will be delighted with his team’s favourable standing in the Premier League and Europe, but he knows full well that it’ll count for nothing if LFC end the campaign without a trophy to their name.
Hopefully we haven’t yet seen the best of Liverpool, who have their domestic destiny in their own hands and couldn’t have asked for a better position in the Champions League ahead of the knockout rounds in the spring.