Jason McAteer: Liverpool’s title challenge isn’t dead yet

Arne Slot and Liverpool’s title defence has gone from bad to worse as the Reds slumped to a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City this past weekend. They are currently eighth in the Premier League, level on points with fierce rivals Manchester United, and eight points behind league leaders Arsenal.

With club football at a standstill because of the international break, Liverpool fans will have to wallow in frustration for a couple of weeks. However, former Liverpool star Jason McAteer believes that fans should maintain a level of hope and not write Liverpool off completely. In a chat with AceOdds, he discussed the game and a controversial offside decision, as well as the criticism surrounding Florian Wirtz.

Correct decision to flag Andy Robertson offside

In the 3-0 loss to Manchester City, Liverpool had a goal disallowed due to an offside being called on Andy Robertson as he interfered with the goalkeeper’s vision when Virgil van Dijk headed the ball in from a corner kick. That decision has caused a lot of debate and furore, with reports suggesting that Liverpool have contacted the PGMOL about the issue.

McAteer, however, feels that the decision was correct, as in his view, Robertson ducking to avoid the ball was a sure sign of him interfering with the keeper’s line of sight.

"I understood the decision. We got the official explanation from the PGMOL, saying first of all, Andy Robertson was in an offside position and then he was interfering with the keeper's view. And he kind of was really. Had the keeper dived to his right, I may have thought differently but because he dived the same direction where Andy Robertson was standing, and Robertson did duck. It does suggest that he's in the way of the ball, otherwise he wouldn't have ducked."

"I do understand why they disallowed it. Obviously I was disappointed from a Liverpool fan's point of view, but I do get it."

Liverpool’s title challenge isn’t dead yet

The loss to City was a major blow to Liverpool’s title aspirations and in the eyes of many pundits and analysts, their title challenge is dead. McAteer disagrees with that assessment, considering that league leaders Arsenal were held to a draw at the Stadium of Light. He adds that in order to resuscitate their title challenge, Arne Slot and Liverpool will have to go on an incredible run after the international break.

"Considering the result on Saturday for Arsenal, I didn't feel the Man City game was a must-win for Liverpool. I felt a draw would have kept them involved."

"Obviously, a defeat puts a different complexion on it. It puts them further behind Arsenal. I know it's only a point for Arsenal but they're all important. Had Arsenal won and Liverpool lost like they did, I would have probably said yes, they're out of the title race. I still think they've got a couple of fingers on a challenge but they need to put a run together."

"First of all, they need to find a way of playing, a system, Slot's best team. They need to find some consistency and it looks like he's gone a little bit back to the drawing board, after the results."

In terms of the odds, the boys from Merseyside are now out to 10/1 to win the league - and if you fancy backing them to do the unlikely, you can check out our bet calculator to see how much you could stand to earn.

Liverpool arguably played their toughest spell of games in the past 10 days as they took on Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City back to back to back. McAteer praised his former side for winning two out of those three games, putting in impressive performances, but also felt that the schedule took its toll on the players, and that this was evident in the loss to Manchester City.

"It was always going to be a big 10 days with Villa, Man City and Real Madrid in the Champions League. It was always going to be a big ask. Villa was a must win, there was a lot of emotion at Anfield, coming off the back of six defeats. You just felt like a sigh of relief when they won against Villa. I thought it was a really, really good performance with a clean sheet. He'd gone back to basics a little bit with his team selection, tried and tested. Great results, good performance."

"Real Madrid, everyone rises to the occasion. The fans got right behind the team, the performance was great, standout performance by Conor Bradley. Szoboszlai again, he's been brilliant. It was just an emotional night really, great result, could have been more, three or four. They made Madrid look ordinary."

"And then they've just gone to the well, one too many times, with Man City. I thought the performance levels dropped off. They looked tired, physically and emotionally. And they just met a Man City team that Guardiola, on his 1000th game, found a way of playing against Liverpool. The 3-0, some people felt it flattered them but I thought it was a really good performance by City and they deserved it."

Florian Wirtz will be one of the best players in the Premier League

As Liverpool have faltered in the early part of the season, a player who has borne the brunt of the criticism is new signing Florian Wirtz. The Reds spent around £115 million to bring him in from Bayer Leverkusen and he’s found it hard to cope with the intensity of the Premier League thus far. The German playmaker has zero goal contributions in 11 Premier League appearances, and he’s been in and out of the starting lineup in recent games.

McAteer admits that Wirtz hasn’t impressed, but he empathises with him as moving to a new country, adapting to a new culture and being away from family makes it tough to hit the ground running.

"I think Wirtz has found it difficult at Liverpool. He was a fantastic talent at Leverkusen, part of that team under Xabi Alonso. And it was a team really that I felt Xabi built around him in the end. He was the focal point and grew into that role and responsibility. He flourished and his German career has taken off, he's a bit of a golden boy in Germany."

"He's had to move away from his family, adapt to a different culture. People forget about these things when foreign players come to the Premier League."

McAteer continues, saying that the attention that comes with playing in the Premier League is affecting him. McAteer, however, goes on to back the German and believes he will answer his critics like Gary Neville by becoming one of the best players in the league.

"It does take time to forge relationships, it does take time to create an understanding with your fellow teammates. But also, in the Premier League there's a big spotlight on top players. Everybody has an opinion, everybody scrutinises their performance and you don't really seem to be given an opportunity to settle. It's like you have to hit the ground running. It's like because they paid £120 million and he's a superstar, he's not allowed to play badly."

"Unfortunately it's not turned out that way. The scrutiny, the criticism, it seems to be affecting him. So I understand why he's not in the team."

"But I thoroughly think, in time, he'd be one of the best players in the Premier League."

Read more as former Sunderland star Wes Brown praises the club's strong return to the Premier League