Liverpool could effectively knock Manchester City out of the title race when they face the champions at Anfield on Sunday, Reds expert David Lynch has claimed.
When Arne Slot was announced as Jurgen Klopp's successor on Merseyside, his appointment was met with scepticism by some, but the Dutchman has quickly found his feet in England.
Slot has won 17 of his 19 games in charge of the club and has taken Liverpool to first place in both the Champions League and the Premier League.
The Dutchman made history on Wednesday night when his team beat Real Madrid 2-0, becoming the first Reds boss to defeat Los Blancos since Rafa Benitez in 2009.
After triumphing over the reigning European champions, Liverpool have the opportunity to beat the reigning Premier League champions on Sunday and truly lay down a marker to the rest of the league.
The Cityzens have lost five and drawn one of their last six fixtures and are already eight points behind the Reds after just 12 league matches.
When speaking to Sports Mole about the clash, Lynch argued that Pep Guardiola's side should be fearful of Slot's side, saying: "Pep Guardiola said in his press conference that if you go 11 points behind, it's pretty much over for them in the title race - I don't think he's trying to play mind games there. I absolutely think he's right.
"I think Liverpool can essentially knock them out of the title race by beating them at Anfield. I know that sounds like big talk in December, but 11 points is just going to be too much.
"I think Liverpool should be licking their lips going into this one and thinking 'this is a chance to put one of the big title rivals out of it as early as this'."
How can Liverpool take advantage of City?
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The season-ending injury to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri has no doubt had an enormous effect on City, with the Spaniard's ability to control games proving to be a huge miss.
However, it would be inaccurate to suggest that all of the champions' problems are as a result of the midfielder's absence considering many of the team's issues have been building for some time.
For instance, during their title winning season of 2020-21, Guardiola's side faced just 36 big chances, but this figure increased to 41 in 2021-22, 49 in 2022-23 and 60 last term.
So far this campaign, the Cityzens have faced 37 big chances and are projected to face 117, by far the most since the former Barcelona manager took charge of the club in 2016-17.
Additionally, while 14 goalkeepers in the top flight have faced more shots on target than Ederson, the Brazilian has statistically faced the highest quality shots of any keeper in the division.
One of the contributory factors as to why City have looked so poor defensively is that many of their star players have unarguably declined physically.
Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva are all in their thirties and have struggled to cope with the intensity of powerful opponents, particularly during transition moments.
City have always had a slight weakness during counter-attacks, but they were previously able to limit the number of attacks faced.
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Liverpool are among the best transition teams in world football, with stunning goals coming in such fashion against the likes of Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United.
Powered by the pace of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and talisman Mohamed Salah, the Reds have been able to power through opponents almost at will so far this campaign.
However, Liverpool could pose far more of a threat against City than most teams due to the quality of players like Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister and Trent Alexander-Arnold when on the ball.
Perhaps the Reds could entice the visitors to press in order to create space higher up the pitch and expose City's frail defence before launching direct passes to their front three.
It would still be foolish to write Guardiola off, but Lynch believes that Slot's team possess all the tools needed to hurt the champions, telling Sports Mole: "When you've seen City get bad results in previous seasons, it's often been they've hit the post six times and the opposition have scored with the two chances that they get, and [City] get unlucky, whereas this time, City have won some games they've absolutely not deserved to.
"One thing Liverpool have got in central midfield is an awful lot of legs to run all over Manchester City. And then they've got pace to hurt them on the counter and just to run all over them.
"It probably will be [Rico Lewis] and Gundogan [in midfield for City] - I just think [Liverpool] can run all over that, and I don't care how determined Man City are, you can't account for the fact that there's a serious lack of physicality and legs in that central area. And Liverpool have got an awful lot of it all over the team."
The Power of Anfield
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Another factor to consider when assessing Liverpool's chances against City is the fact that the Reds will be playing at Anfield in front of a raucous crowd.
In the past, Guardiola defended Barcelona's historic 2018 collapse on Merseyside in the Champions League, saying: "The motto 'This is Anfield' is no marketing spin. There's something about it that you will find in no other stadium in the world."
Others such as Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger have suggested that the power of the Reds crowd is unique, and given City surrendered a three-goal lead against Feyenoord on Tuesday in the Champions League, Liverpool fans will feel they can play their part on Sunday and force the away team to make mistakes.
The Cityzens have won just one of their last 21 Premier League matches at Anfield and have not triumphed away to Liverpool in the league with fans in attendance since 2003.
Lynch referenced this record as reason to believe that the Reds will emerge victorious, saying to Sports Mole: "I think this is the first time in a long time that City will come to Anfield and Liverpool will be thinking 'we can inflict some real, real damage on you here'.
"They've only won once [at Anfield under Guardiola], which was the year when there were no fans, so it's a difficult place for them to go, no matter how determined or how good they've been down the years.
"If Guardiola kind of comes away with a win now, you've just got to kind of tip your hat because it will be some tactical plan to mask all the problems that you've got at the moment."
Sports Mole editor Barney Corkhill spoke with Liverpool expert David Lynch to discuss the Reds' title clash against Manchester City on Sunday and the ramifications of a Reds victory.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
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