MANCHESTER: Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted that talk of a Premier League title challenge was premature given their current form as he candidly analysed his side’s humbling 3-0 away defeat to rivals Manchester City on Sunday.

First-half goals by Erling Haaland and Nico Gonzalez and a stunning effort by Jeremy Doku after the break crowned a superb City display against lacklustre opponents.

The trouncing marked the reigning champions’ fifth league loss of the season — one more than all of the last campaign — and sent Slot’s men sliding down the table to eighth place after 11 games, eight points adrift of leaders Arsenal and four behind City.

“It feels there’s too many [losses],” Slot told reporters. “And the last thing I should speak about now is the title race. We should first focus on getting results — result after result after result — before we can even think about that. The reality is that we are eighth.

“I said last season, many times, the best way to judge the league table is, of course, after 38 [games], but the next best thing to judge it is after 19 games [the season’s halfway point], because then you all faced the same opponents.

“And the last thing we should focus on is on the title race. We need to improve. And that’s obvious.”

Liverpool had arrived at the Etihad on a high after recent victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid that had halted an ugly streak of six losses in seven games across all competitions.

The Dutchman was frank in his assessment of the match, conceding that City were dominant, particularly in the first half.

“Everyone is disappointed,” he said. “It was a very good start of the week, winning at Villa, winning against Real Madrid. But if you thought you already faced two strong opponents, then City comes across you away also at the Etihad which is for every team difficult, including us.

“And they were by far the much better side in the first half.”On the other hand Pep Guardiola showed the world in the 1,000th game of his managerial career that the magic still remains.

They said last season the Catalan, who made his name as a player and then set about becoming one of the world’s most decorated coaches in the city next to the Mediterranean, had lost his sparkle as City were dethroned.

But a win over his biggest rival since arriving in England in 2016 proved talk of his demise was premature.

“Just want to say thank you to the players, backroom staff to give me that present,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager, said. “Proud to do it here in Manchester with my City. “Now rest and come back with the energy.”

Guardiola has won 12 league titles and three Champions Leagues and a sackful of other silverware since starting out as a coach of Barcelona’s second string in 2007.

After his milestone match on Sunday, he said those early days laid the groundwork for the dynasties he has built in Catalonia, Bavaria and now in Manchester.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2025