Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rafael Benitez believes that Liverpool have a great advantage in their Premier League title bid right now and their rivals Manchester City can’t afford too many more slip ups.
Jurgen Klopp’s team has started the new campaign on fire and sit eight points clear at the top of the table during the international break.
The Reds have won all eight league matches so far, while second-placed Manchester City have started the defence of their crown with defeat already to Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After missing out on the title last season by a single point, Liverpool have quickly put that behind them to go again and have a nice cushion already.
They will of course know that they let a seven-point lead slip last season and it’s still not even a quarter through the season.
Benitez, who spent six years as Liverpool manager, believes his former side are in a strong position despite it still being early in the campaign.
He highlighted that Manchester City are already under the spotlight following the impressive start from Klopp’s side.
“It you look at the table Liverpool has a great advantage at the moment, it is too early to tell much from that, but Manchester City can’t make too many mistakes or the pressure might become too much,”
“Especially as later they will start thinking about the Champions League and lose their focus on the Premier League which obviously would be good for Liverpool.”
TBR’s View:
Manchester City have a vulnerability to them that hasn’t existed in the last two years during their title successes, but at the same time they still have it in the locker to put a crazy run of results together during the course of a season.
Liverpool just need to keep going about their work and see where they stand when it comes around to the New Year.
They have a tough fixture list after the international break, as they face Manchester United away and host Tottenham at Anfield in their next two league matches.
Liverpool have managed to handle the Champions League well in the last two years alongside domestic competitions, where they have won one final and lost one final.