Rio Ferdinand claimed that Liverpool will finish more than a point behind Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title this season.
Liverpool finished second in the league in their 2018/19 campaign, one point behind Man City, but Ferdinand shared he believes the gap will be bigger before saying how big a blow it was for Jurgen Klopp’s side to lose Alisson to injury.
The pundit was then asked whether the Reds keeper had made his fantasy football team this season, and he replied to say no because the Brazilian was too expensive.
“I don’t think they will be, I think they (Liverpool) will be further off by the end of the season,” said Ferdinand on talkSPORT (as seen in a clip uploaded to the station’s Twitter account).
“Losing Alisson again look he could be out for a couple of months now with a calf injury.
“He wasn’t (in his fantasy team). He didn’t make it, he was too expensive.
“But yeah that was a huge loss for them and now we will see how their squad can deal with that. That’s the difference, that could balance it up.
“Origi came in yesterday for Mane, scored, looked good, so that works but a goalkeeper, they searched for many a year, found the one, got to where they wanted to last year, but he’s out now and they’re going to have to deal with that.”
Ferdinand then added that the race for the Premier League title this season was a two-horse race as he didn’t see anyone being able to catch Liverpool or Manchester City.
“Two horse-race, I don’t see anyone else coming out the pack,” added Ferdinand.
“Distance is too far to make up, to mount a challenge to Liverpool and Man City.
“I think that Liverpool will be further off come the end of the season.” ?
“Alisson is a huge loss for them.”
“It’s a two horse race, I don’t see anybody else coming to catch up.”@RioFerdy5 doesn’t think #LFC will catch Man City in the title race. ? pic.twitter.com/Cw901Skwi5
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) August 10, 2019
OPINION
Alisson could be set for a notable spell on the sidelines after pulling up injured in the 4-1 win over Norwich City on Friday, with Klopp confirming the shot-stopper would miss Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup clash with Chelsea, and there’s no denying he’ll be a big loss. The Reds keeper racked up 21 clean sheets in 38 league outings last season, winning the Golden Glove in the process (Source: Premier League), and it’s hard to see if back-up keeper Adrian is capable of covering for the Brazilian. The Spanish shot-stopper has plenty of Premier League experience, he has played 126 times in England’s top-flight, but his record isn’t exactly reassuring. Adrian has only registered 35 clean sheets in his Premier League career, which is only 14 more than Alisson despite spending several more seasons playing in England’s top-flight. The 32-year-old also didn’t feature in the Premier League when at West Ham last season, as he was behind Lukasz Fabianski in the pecking order, and his 2017/18 campaign record shows why he likely struggled to get his No.1 shirt back. After all, Adrian conceded 29 goals in 19 league appearances. So with that in mind, it’s hard not to worry about the Reds’ Premier League title chances if Alisson is set to miss a few games due to injury.
