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Roy Keane offers up rare Liverpool praise and details why Arne Slot's Reds are serious in title race
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane issued some rare praise for Liverpool as he waxed lyrical about the defensive solidity and attacking threat possessed by the Reds.
Coming into the clash with Southampton at St. Mary's, the Merseysiders top the Premier League table after tallying up nine wins from 11 outings. Having succeeded Jurgen Klopp in the Kop hotseat, Arne Slot already boasts the best record of any Liverpool manager at this point in their reign.
The early pacesetters have conceded just six goals so far this term - less than any side in the division - while scoring an impressive 21 times. Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of the Reds' trip to face the Saints, pundits Jamie Redknapp and Keane were effusive in their praise for the league leaders.
Former Liverpool captain Redknapp started things off, saying: "At the start of the year with Arne Slot, I thought 'this is going to be interesting' because you look at history and what's happened when [managers] followed Sir Alex Ferguson - ten managers down the line with four interim and still trying to find success. Arsenal still haven't won a league after Arsene Wenger, it takes time.
"But straight away, he's come in and things are falling in his lap, don't get me wrong, adding you see one of your direct competitors losing at home at this stage in the season and you're like 'wow, this is incredible'. Arsenal are having a little bit of a wobble [too]. So they've just got the keep on doing what they are doing but I'd see it as a real positive for right now."
Agreeing with the one-time Reds skipper, ex-Manchester United stalwart Keane then replied: "Liverpool will have been looking at that last night, the managers and the players, and they will have been so pleased with the goals Man City are giving up. Yes, they're still not nice on the eye going forward but the intensity in terms of their defending, Liverpool will be delighted."
As the Old Trafford hero alluded to, title rivals Manchester City dropped more points this weekend, as they fell to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. This loss for the Premier League champions meant that Liverpool had the opportunity to pull eight points clear at the summit with a win versus Southampton.
Continuing his praise for Slot's team, while acknowledging that the pressure is on the Reds to respond to City's defeat, Keane added: "But they still have to go out and do the business today. The beauty for Liverpool, whatever is going on at the moment, is they're not giving any goals away.
"They've given up six goals all season, so they're rock solid at the back, they've got brilliant attacking players and of course the manager is not going to admit that but he'll be looking at where City is at the moment and say 'we've got to take full advantage of that'. That's why the pressure is back on them today - they have to beat Southampton, who are clearly struggling."
