Roy Keane makes Liverpool title claim amid Man City worry - 'It's different now'

Roy Keane believes the Premier League title race has swayed in Liverpool’s favor with Manchester City’s stars struggling.

The Reds sit top of the pile as the final international break of 2024 gets underway. With Arne Slot winning nine of his 11 league games so far, his side holds a five-point lead over City, and sits nine points ahead of Arsenal.

Liverpool has taken full advantage of its rivals faltering in recent weeks, with Pep Guardiola’s side losing back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Brighton, while Mikel Arteta’s team took just one point from its games against Newcastle and Chelsea.

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There is of course a long way to go in the season, and Liverpool has a crucial set of fixtures coming up after the international break, which includes City visiting Anfield at the start of December.

But speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, former Manchester United captain Keane believes Rodri’s injury – plus some of City’s other stars struggling – may have handed an advantage to Liverpool.

“I’ve never written off Manchester City over the past four or five years – even when Arsenal have been brilliant, I backed City all day,” Keane said. “The circumstances are different now, though – Liverpool are doing well off the back off finishing third last year on 82 points.

“Liverpool haven’t come from anywhere, where you can say they’ll be out of steam by Christmas, but you look at where City are – the injury to Rodri changed it. The worry at City, you look at certain players – Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, and Kyle Walker off it – that sways it to Liverpool.”

Slot will be aiming to continue his impressive run as head coach going after the international break. Across all competitions, the Dutchman has won 15 of his 17 games so far, suffering just one defeat in the process.

As well as topping the Premier League, the Reds also lead the standings in the Champions League, and have a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Southampton to look forward to next month. Keane though feels it’s not just Slot who should be taking credit for Liverpool’s start.

“Jurgen Klopp deserves praise for the group of players he left behind for this manager [Arne Slot] to take over. It does seem with Liverpool that it’s all a bit more controlled. When they’re winning games, they look in control.

“Like every team, if they miss a couple of players, of course they will struggle.”