Rio Ferdinand has explained why Liverpool will now be ‘looking over their shoulders’ in regards to the Premier League title race.
The Reds currently find themselves two points clear at the top of the table following Manchester City’s defeat of Newcastle at St. James’ Park last night.
Kevin De Bruyne returned from injury as a second half substitute to inspire the Sky Blues to a second half come back and ex-Manchester United man Ferdinand believes the Belgian’s return to action will frighten City’s rivals.
“Pep Guardiola, very rarely do you see him as animated as he was today,” Ferdinand told TNT Sports (via Liverpool Echo). “I’ll tell you one thing, that man there (KDB), you’re back, you are back. You are the jewel in the crown, you’re back. Look at us now, watch momentum kick in now and these guys know what to do.
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“These guys know when to put the pedal to the floor and it looks like now everybody is going to be looking over their shoulders and looking around and sayin, ‘they are coming’. They know how to get the job done, they have the experience, the depth, the class, the quality and the firepower. Formidable.”
We’re all aware that Pep Guardiola’s side are capable of a huge win streak which could see them retain the Premier League title but Liverpool must just continue to focus on themselves and take each game as they come.
De Bruyne is a world-class talent and there’s no doubt that City are a stronger side when he’s fit but let’s remember that Jurgen Klopp is also waiting on a number of key players to return to action.
Thiago Alcantara is yet to feature this term due to an ongoing hip injury while Andy Robertson has been out since October and Kostas Tsimikas, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai are all nursing knocks.
At the start of the season we knew that if we were to challenge for the title we’d be up against the Etihad-based outfit so it’s not really a surprise.
We’re in a great place at the moment – on all four fronts – but nothing is won in January!
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