Gary Lineker slammed by Liverpool fans over Premier League title comment – ‘Nonsense’
Gary Lineker has riled up Liverpool supporters after what he suggested about Liverpool’s likely Premier League title triumph.
The Reds have adapted to life under Arne Slot with no issues at all and currently sit at the top of the Premier League, 13 points clear of Arsenal in second place.
Although the title is not yet mathematically confirmed and the Dutchman will not want to get ahead of himself, it is certainly Liverpool’s to lose this season.
Lineker speaks out on Liverpool title race
With the Premier League title race looking as though it is wrapped up in March, it shows a dominant season for one side in particular, Liverpool being that team this time around.
There is no doubt that they have made the transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot’s management perfectly too.
Not only are they absolutely dominant in the top flight, having lost just one game this season, but they are still in the Champions League and head to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final in March.
However, despite this, Lineker has rubbed some supporters up the wrong way by suggesting that success this term has also been a result of other side’s downfalls.
Talking on the Rest is Football Podcast [28 February], Lineker admitted: “I don’t think any of us tipped Liverpool to win the title because replacing Klopp was always going to be different.
“I think it’s probably down to the injuries of the others, but I still think Liverpool would have been comfortably ahead.”
Supporters have blasted Lineker for his comments, questioning whether this is a fair assessment, given they are also top in the Champions League table.
Liverpool need to stay focused on proving Lineker wrong
Slot has shown himself to be a fairly level-headed manager this season, apart from his single outburst at the end of the Merseyside Derby which saw him receive a red card.
However, this means you would expect him to be keeping his side’s feet firmly on the ground, not allowing anyone to get carried away with where they currently sit in the table and blocking out surrounding noise from elsewhere.
| Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | Points | |
| Liverpool | 28 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 66 | 26 | 40 | 67 |
Although Lineker does highlight that he thinks Liverpool would be successful this season anyway, the implication that injuries to others has been some assistance feels slightly unfair given how inconsistent Arsenal have proved to be for some time now.
Furthermore, Manchester City’s drop off is not just a result of injuries in the team.
The pundit is right though when he says how unexpected Slot’s success has been as not many people knew what to expect and it has seemingly turned out absolutely fine.
The key for Liverpool to see it out is to keep their heads down and focus on getting the results needed to secure their first Premier League title under Slot.
After that, the challenge will be retaining high-profile players like Mohamed Salah who is out of contract, and showing that their title win was not a one time fluke.