Carragher gives verdict on whether Liverpool 'bottled' title race

Liverpool stuttered recently in the Premier League title race, with the Reds licking their wounds having lost to Crystal Palace last Sunday.

That defeat - allied with Arsenal's defeat to Aston Villa - allowed Manchester City to become favourites with Pep Guardiola’s team now hopeful of adding a sixth Premier League title in seven seasons. 

The only team to come between Pep and the Premier League trophy during that time frame were Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, ending a three-decade wait for a top-flight title back in 2020. 

Hopes were high that the Merseysiders could add to their league title tally this term with the Reds involved in a three-way title race with the Gunners and City. 

However, a recent sequence of indifferent results might well have knocked them out of contention in the league as well as the FA Cup and Europa League. 

Amid accusations that Liverpool and Arsenal have both “bottled” the title race, preposterous given the scale of Liverpool’s injuries and the disparity in resources between the challengers and Man City, ex-Reds defender Jamie Carragher has hit back. 

Liverpool and Arsenal have both done well to hang with City at the top, he argues, whereas Chelsea and Manchester United are struggling much further down the league table and have flattered to deceive all season long. 

Man Utd and Chelsea failures laid bare this season

That's despite the fact that the Blues have added £1bn worth of players since the Todd Boehly-led takeover in 2022, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side set to miss out on European football once again.

United too have faded in recent weeks with manager Erik ten Hag appearing to be a dead man walking. 

The Red Devils have won only ONE of their last seven league games, now languishing in seventh place and with Champions League qualification looking an impossibility. 

Given the dimensions of Chelsea and Man Utd underperformance, Carragher refutes the accusations that the teams at the top have “bottled” the title race and urged onlookers to consider the problems at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford in contrast. 

Carragher refutes Liverpool ‘bottle’ accusations

“It is a crazy situation that Arsenal can suffer their first league defeat of 2024 in mid-April and it feels like the sky has fallen in on their title hopes,” Carragher wrote in his Telegraph column. 

“That is more to do with City’s excellence and in anticipation of them winning all their games than any deep Arsenal shortcomings.

“I must also say this; if Arsenal and Liverpool are ‘bottling it’ in April and May, what does that tell us about Manchester United and Chelsea for the rest of the season? 

“They are clubs which have made so many poor decisions they are nowhere near the required level, albeit Pochettino is in the process of trying to fix previous mistakes.”