Arne Slot’s Liverpool hit a stumbling block in their Premier League title charge yesterday, when they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Nevertheless, they have attracted praise from Rafael Van der Vaart for their performances this season. He believes that Manchester City will win the league once again – but thinks that the Reds are the club who will run Pep Guardiola’s men the closest.
He singled out Liverpool’s impressive win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in particular – Van der Vaart said he was ‘really impressed’ by the Reds’ performance on that day.
Meanwhile, he feels that Arsenal will struggle ‘in the long term’. His opinions may be vindicated already – the Gunners are suffering from an injury crisis that has seen players such as Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard and star summer signing Riccardo Calafiori ruled out of action with various problems.
A well-respected name in global football, Van der Vaart played for clubs such as Hamburg, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur over the course of his career. Additionally, he also picked up 109 caps on the international stage for The Netherlands.
What did Rafael Van der Vaart have to say about Liverpool this season?
Speaking in an interview with BetMGM, Van der Vaart said: “Many think Arsenal will be the ones to serve it up to Manchester City, but I don’t agree. City and Liverpool look the two best sides to me.
“It’s so hard to keep going again and again, season after season, and I look at the Arsenal team in the long term and worry about them. I can’t see Arsenal winning the Premier League this season.
“I was really impressed by Liverpool when they beat Manchester United – they looked so stable and everything looked very easy. City are definitely the favourites, but don’t write off Liverpool.”
