Liverpool have sent out ‘a major message’ with wins over Arsenal and Chelsea, says Jamie Carragher
Liverpool have made a big statement about their title chances with their early-season wins over Chelsea and Arsenal, says Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher.
The defending champions backed up last week’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge with an impressive 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Monday Night Football. Along with their opening-weekend 4-3 win over Leeds United, that means Liverpool have made a perfect start to the season with three wins from three.
But Carragher says it is the manner of the past two performances, against sides in the hunt for the Champions League qualifying places, which has indicated Liverpool will be major title contenders once again this season.
While Manchester United and Manchester City have already dropped points, Carragher says Liverpool have also benefitted from not playing in the latter stages of last season’s European competitions like the Manchester clubs.
„It’s difficult to judge teams [this early in the season],“ said Carragher. „We looked at Manchester United on the first game of the season [a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace] and didn’t go too strong on them. Even Man City on Sunday [in their 5-2 defeat to Leicester], you’re still a little bit, ‘where’s the team at?’.
„I think Liverpool have had an advantage in that the two teams I’ve mentioned were in Europe. I always felt Liverpool would have an advantage in that they knew when their season was finished. The teams in Europe could go out the next day, or stay for another week to get to a semi-final or final.
„The first game, they didn’t quite look at it, but to respond with the performances they have done against two of their top-six rivals, I just think it sends out a major message these last two games that Liverpool are going to take some stopping.“
Arsenal where Liverpool were when Klopp arrived?
While Liverpool were superior to Arsenal on the night, Carragher believes the Gunners are in a similar position to where Liverpool were when Klopp arrived at Anfield in 2015.
The Sky Sports pundit, who has been impressed by Mikel Arteta’s work at Arsenal, says the Spaniard is getting the most out of his players and could even inspire them to a top-four finish.
„Arsenal stayed in the game which was important and they had a big chance and it can be completely different, but Liverpool are a few years down the line,“ said Carragher.
„I think it’s almost an identical job to what Klopp came into. Klopp came into a Liverpool squad where they weren’t even qualifying for the Champions League. That’s what Arsenal haven’t done for the last few years.
„The first thing for Arsenal is to get back into the Champions League. I think there’s a good chance they can. I didn’t believe that before the start of the season.
„I like a lot of what Mikel Arteta is doing. I don’t think it’s possible for him to get any more out of the group of players he’s got. I don’t think that’s a top-four group but the way he’s organising them, I think they could get into the top four because of his management.
„Do I think Arsenal could win a title in four or five years? It’s still very difficult and probably shows what a good job Jurgen Klopp has done. But Arsenal have got a really good manager.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
