Arne Slot fears Liverpool have ALREADY blown title defence after Man City humbling

Arne Slot fears Liverpool have already blown their title defence - after just 11 games of the Premier League season. The English champions were left humiliated following a crushing 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad.

It was Liverpool's fifth loss in their last six outings, to leave them toiling in eighth place in the table. Liverpool are already eight points behind leaders Arsenal. And Slot reckons his men have lost too many times to be considered serious contenders to retain their crown.

A dejected Slot said: "It feels (like) too many. The last thing I should speak about is the title race, we should focus on getting results after results after results. We are eighth now - and one team is quite far ahead, while City are fours points behind Arsenal.

"The last thing we should focus on is the title race, we could do it last season but not the seasons before. We need to improve, that is obvious."

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City outclassed their rivals from start to finish, to make it the perfect day for Pep Guardiola on the occasion of his 1,000th game as a manager. Goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku helped City climb to second - four points adrift of Arsenal.

And Guardiola admitted the win was the best possible present on his landmark day. Guardiola said: "My players gave me a good present with this performance against the champions.

"We had to perform good - and many good things happened, they all performed to the highest level. So I just want to say thank you to the players, and backroom staff to give me that present. I'm proud to do it here in Manchester with my city.

"For me, it has been so special to make 1,000 games in front of my family and especially against Liverpool. I have a huge respect for that club."

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