“Don’t see it” – Jan Molby says there’s one team Liverpool won’t have to worry about in title race | OneFootball

Jan Molby has dismissed the chances of one team from dethroning Liverpool as Premier League champions this season.

While the Reds have roared out of the starting blocks by winning their first five top-flight games, some of the teams who were tipped to challenge them have shown little evidence of being able to keep pace with Arne Slot’s side.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has already written off his team’s chances of usurping the Merseysiders, while Manchester City are eight points adrift of the leaders after the concession of a stoppage time equaliser against Arsenal on Sunday.

Molby doesn’t see Man City challenging Liverpool this season

Pep Guardiola made some uncharacteristically defensive substitutions with his team leading at the Emirates Stadium, substituting Erling Haaland and Phil Foden for Nico Gonzalez and Nathan Ake, and Molby believes that the Cityzens don’t have the squad to properly challenge Liverpool this term.

The former Reds midfielder told Anfield Index: “There has been a lot of criticism of Mikel Arteta and the starting XI that he picked, but I actually think that the biggest surprise was the way that Man City played.

“I understand that they’ve gone to the Emirates and taken the lead inside ten minutes, but Pep Guardiola would’ve never played like that in the past.

“I still think that Liverpool and Arsenal will finish first and second. I just can’t have Man City in that conversation. [Gianluigi] Donnarumma has come in and looks good, Rodri is slowly getting back to the form and Haaland is Haaland, but apart from that, I just don’t see it.”

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Too early to write off Man City just yet!

It’s been a surprisingly slow start to the season for Guardiola’s side, who’ve dropped more points than they’ve earned thus far; and if Liverpool were to keep winning, they could be a sizeable distance clear of Man City by the time they visit the Etihad Stadium in November.

Reds fans are all too familiar with the sight of the Manchester outfit hoovering up 90+ points and hitting the turbo in the second half of the campaign to end up on the winners’ podium, although over the past year they’ve often looked a pale shadow of the title-winning teams from 2018 to 2024.

Despite Molby’s reservations and their recent struggles, Slot won’t be fooled into dismissing our rivals down the M62 from putting up a sustained challenge to our status as champions.

That said, Liverpool hold the early aces in the title race and have it within their control to open a significant gap to the chasing pack throughout the autumn, with Gary Neville describing their recent form as ‘ominous‘.

For now, the Reds will simply be focused on getting past Southampton in the Carabao Cup tonight and preserving their 100% Premier League record away to a high-flying Crystal Palace outfit on Saturday as the champions seek to continue their momentum.