LiverpoolWorld's George Priestman is joined by LondonWorld's Chris Wheatley and ManchesterWorld's Michael Plant to discuss the title race so far.
The trio analyse Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool's starts in the league so far.
Intro Music: Lucid Dreaming by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space
https://escp-music.bandscamp.com
The trio analyse Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool's starts in the league so far.
Intro Music: Lucid Dreaming by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space
https://escp-music.bandscamp.com
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SportsTranscript
00:00If Guardiola City wasn't there, people would be talking about what a fantastic side this
00:04Arsenal team are. They really have gone from strength to strength over the last three years.
00:08There's a kind of Premier League rivalry, you know, back again after the kind of United
00:13Arsenal games and maybe Arsenal Chelsea games as well of many years ago. They didn't beat
00:18Manchester City, did they?
00:21Nearly.
00:22Nearly.
00:23Welcome to a special episode from National World as we look back on the Premier League
00:29title race so far, gauging the starts made by the three favourites for the title that
00:34include Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.
00:37Joining me to review what we've seen so far is London World's Chris Wheatley, who will
00:41give us the Arsenal perspective, and Michael Plant of Manchester World, who will obviously
00:45give us the Manchester City perspective.
00:47And I'll be reviewing Liverpool's beginning, being a reporter for Liverpool World. And
00:52as we will look to start off with just how the Premier League's been so far, I guess
00:58I'll go for Chris first. Really enjoyable start to the season, lots of goals. Have you
01:04found it so far?
01:05Yeah, enjoying it, of course. It's always exciting, Premier League. I think we're always
01:11talking more about off the pitch stuff, and I'm sure Michael is probably quite used to
01:16that with the Manchester clubs. But it does feel like we're talking more about what's
01:21happening off the pitch, you know, the PSR issues, sponsorship, deals and these kind
01:27of things, rather than the actual football and what's happening on the pitch. But look,
01:31there's been some really good games. I think the best game for me this season has been
01:37Liverpool losing at home to Nottingham Forest. I think that was maybe one of the biggest
01:40shocks. But there's also been some good games from Arsenal, I know we speak about in the
01:45show, you know, wins against Spurs and, of course, Manchester City as well. So, yeah,
01:52I think they didn't beat Manchester City, did they?
01:56Nearly.
01:57Nearly? Wow, I don't know why I thought they beat Manchester City. So, yeah, there's been
02:05some really positive results for Arsenal as well against Manchester City and Spurs.
02:10Yeah, for sure. Michael, all about yourself, Manchester City always entertaining?
02:16Yeah, I mean, some people would disagree with that, but I certainly always find them entertaining.
02:23Yeah, I mean, it's been a good start to the season. I mean, we're still very early on.
02:26I think the two international breaks after seven games certainly does cut it up a little
02:31bit. It means it's a little bit difficult to get a bit of momentum. It's obviously going
02:35to be the same in November as well. So, I don't think we'll fully get going until December,
02:40really. I don't feel then, I think we've got a four-month spell without an international
02:44break. That'll feel like we really get into it. But it's been a good start. A couple of
02:48interesting storylines, certainly. I mean, Manchester United continue to, it's chaos
02:53there still. I think Chelsea have been very interesting in terms of how they've gone about
02:57things. I didn't expect after that first game of the season them to have such a positive
03:00start. Been a couple of good stories. The likes of Forrest have done well. Fulham, Wolves
03:06on the other end haven't looked particularly good. So, yeah, plenty of stories happening.
03:10And I mean, Chris mentioned the City-Arsenal game. I mean, certainly in terms of matches
03:14I've been to this season, that's by far the most entertaining, the most, certainly the
03:19biggest fallout from it anyway. So many talking points in the week after that game. And yeah,
03:23I think it's going to be a really, really interesting tight race going over the next
03:26couple of months anyway.
03:28Yeah, jumping into Arsenal first then, Chris, you want to get us going here with the summer
03:33signings. We've seen Ricardo Calafiore coming into the side, looking very solid. We've only
03:38just seen Mikel Mourinho make his debut off the bench recently as well. How do you think
03:43they've added to the team so far?
03:46Yeah, really good. I think Calafiore came in. He wasn't necessarily a starter when he first
03:51came in, but he's quickly come into the team and looked like a, well, I think we all expected
03:58him to be a pretty good player. We saw him at the Euros for Italy. He was really solid
04:03for them. And I think, yeah, the summer signings have been superb for Arsenal. Don't forget as
04:09well, you've got players like Kai Havertz as well, who have come in, done a fantastic job.
04:17And yeah, look, I think overall it's been a really good summer for Arsenal. I think they
04:21got all the players that they wanted to sign. And I think it's certainly showing in the
04:25performances as well. I was saying in one of the previous shows that I think Nikola Teta has
04:31finally got the perfect team that he's wanted to build for a number of years now. He's shifted
04:38out the Deadwoods, shifted out players who maybe didn't fit in his kind of style and philosophy,
04:44and now he's got that squad that he really does want. Maybe Arsenal are still missing that
04:48kind of out-and-out striker, but when you've got someone like Havertz who's still coming up with
04:52goals, I think that they'll be doing okay this season. So yeah, I think they did a good job in
04:58the transfer market. Yeah, and Michael, you said you were at the Manchester City game. The Calafiore
05:05goal on that day was absolutely sensational. I think he's been sensational so far. What have you
05:10made of him? Yeah, that goal had a 0.02 xG, so it was a pretty remarkable goal. Yeah, listen,
05:18I agree with a lot of what Chris has said. I think that this is now 100% the team that
05:23Arteta wants. He has just tinkered a few things here and there to make this team
05:27kind of more in his image. I think that defensively they are just outstanding.
05:32We saw that for 45 minutes at the Etihad, albeit obviously the late equaliser. They've got real
05:39quality now and real strength and depth. I was thinking about this the other day. It's only
05:44three years ago that Arteta's job seemed very much on the line, and the transformation in that time
05:50to really now one of the best sides in Europe has been remarkable. They're certainly going to push
05:56City all the way, I think, this season. You actually asked me at the start of this question
06:03about Calafiore. I haven't actually answered it, but I think he looks really good. I think the
06:07ability to have defenders who can play in multiple positions and multiple roles, centre-back,
06:11left-back, the ability to push into midfield has made Arsenal even better again this season. So,
06:16yeah, I think the summer signings have really added strength and depth to that squad.
06:20Yeah, it's always hard to see what Mourinho brings to the side, but
06:24you mentioned firepower then, Chris. I have to ask, do they have enough to win the title?
06:29Yeah, absolutely. I think there was a big difference between the Man City-Arsenal game
06:35from last season and compared to this season. I think Arsenal had a lot of criticism after the
06:42game, you know, the dark arts stuff, time-wasting, all this kind of thing. But regardless, I think
06:47there was just a different kind of Arsenal, which we saw in that game.
06:54I think also there was a massive plus point that there's a kind of Premier League rivalry,
06:59you know, back again after the kind of United-Arsenal games and maybe Arsenal-Chelsea
07:04games as well of many years ago. I think now we do have a real rivalry on our hands.
07:11And, yeah, I think Arsenal can certainly win the Premier League this season. I said it last
07:14season, they came pretty close. But, yeah, I do think that Arsenal have been boosted as well.
07:20The unfortunate injury to Rodri is a massive blow for Manchester City.
07:26Arsenal will be hoping they don't get any big injury blows last season.
07:30Uri and Timba had an ACL. If they can manage to keep everyone fully fit throughout the season,
07:36which is always a massive challenge, then I do think they have a really good chance of
07:42winning the title.
07:44Yeah, I'll just throw it over to Michael. Just the big games so far,
07:48the City game and the London derby as well. Have you seen an improvement
07:52from them in those big games? Because that's where we really measure them, don't we?
07:58Truthfully, I didn't see the Tottenham game. I can't remember. It's difficult in this job,
08:02isn't it? If you're at a game, you kind of tend to miss all the other matches on that day. So,
08:05I missed the Spurs match. I don't know whether necessarily I've seen an improvement from the
08:11trip to the AFC Etihad last year compared to this one. Last year, it was a really good defensive
08:15display, as was this year, although they did concede two goals. So, I think that there was
08:21perhaps a slight difference in mentality coming this year. It felt like an Arsenal side who
08:25actually did really come to win this game, whereas last season they didn't. To come back to what
08:30Chris said, I 100% agree that this is a team capable of winning the title now. I think that
08:35it's a very similar conversation that people had to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. If Guardiola City
08:40wasn't there, people would be talking about what a fantastic side this Arsenal team are. They
08:43really have gone from strength to strength over the last three years. Even talking about the
08:50Premier League, in my eyes, they've got to be up there as one of the sides to potentially win the
08:53Champions League because of the quality they've got in the ranks. So, they really are one of
08:57Europe's top sides. They have the capability to push City all the way, but I feel like we've read
09:04this script so many times before that we have challengers and teams who can push City. They
09:08don't always have the best start and then the end. What ultimately happens is City are standing
09:14there come May with the silverware. So, we'll have to see and Chris is completely right again with
09:19what he says about Rodri. It is just a huge blow. It's going to take City a few weeks to, well, a
09:24few months probably to find the solution. What that is, I don't necessarily know if it's going
09:28to be one solution. I think there'll probably be different solutions for different games
09:32depending on the opponent, but it's going to be massive because he does 101 jobs in that team
09:38and he is certainly the most important player. Whether he's the best player, I don't know.
09:42Erling Haaland might have something to say about that, but he's certainly the most important player
09:47in tactically how they set up the roles they carry out in the pitch. So, it's a huge,
09:52huge blow for City not to have him for the entirety of the season pretty much.
09:57Yeah, and just lastly, Chris, if you just give us a quick one on just Gabriel and Saliba,
10:01how they sort of carried them in those big games and how great they've been,
10:05just how key are they for the title charge?
10:08Yeah, I think Michael was just saying how good Arsenal have been defensively and
10:12yeah, you can't argue with that. I think maybe the biggest indicator of how well the partnership
10:17are doing is that William Saliba and Gabriel are both being linked with Real Madrid. I saw
10:23Saliba was being linked with Real Madrid yesterday. Gabriel has been linked with
10:27multiple teams over the past few months. I think that's just a big indicator of how well
10:33they're doing. Saliba is, yeah, is on another level. You know, he used to play in central
10:38midfield as well. That's where he kind of started his career. So, he's so good on the ball. He's so
10:44good at moving the ball and obviously defensively he's absolutely solid. And alongside Gabriel as
10:50well, who's really maturing into the kind of player that Michael Arteta I think always knew
10:55he was going to be. Yeah, they are both excellent defenders, excellent players and I think,
11:01yeah, they're probably the key to Arsenal winning the title because they do keep out opponents.
11:07As we saw against Man City, they were absolutely fantastic.
11:12Yeah, Arsenal I think have made, again, another stride forward. People like Tim were coming
11:17back into the side last season. The new signings, Mourinho, like I said, very excited to see him.
11:22The amount of recoveries he made per night or something last season was outrageous. So,
11:26he's got some more energy in that midfield and that makes him even harder to play. So,
11:30we'll close the chapter on this part of Arsenal. Very excited to see how they get on this season
11:35and after the break we will jump into Manchester City and how Pep Guardiola's side can go for
11:41what will be just another ridiculous title after their incredible run.
11:46Welcome back to the special episode from National World. We have been reviewing the title race so
11:52far. We've covered Arsenal and now we'll come on to Manchester City and Michael, start us off here
11:57with the big man up top. The form has been incredible from Erling Haaland. Again, he was
12:02rested in the summer with no European Championships and he's come out the blocks just far enough
12:07cylinders, hasn't he? Yeah, he's all right, isn't he? He's okay. Yeah, he's just ludicrous,
12:14Haaland. I think it's become so normal now for him to score these number of goals that
12:19we've become slightly desensitised to it. But it is remarkable the numbers he hits.
12:24Is it ten goals in seven Premier League games this season?
12:28That's ridiculous. I mean, I saw he'd just become Norway's all-time top goal scorer with
12:3434 goals and 36 caps. It's just a ludicrous number. He's 24, he's already his country's
12:40top scorer. So yeah, he's been amazing. I think there are still probably a few thoughts that it'd
12:47be probably good for City if he did get more involved in the build-up play and there may be
12:52still a slight concern that when he doesn't score, there aren't too many goal scorers popping up,
12:58albeit they did score three in the last game without Haaland scoring. So that's maybe a
13:03little sign that they're starting to address that issue. But Pep Guardiola said at the start of the
13:08season that he wants Haaland to get more involved in the build-up play, that he wants him to drop
13:11deep and to save a few more touches. That hasn't really happened so far. There are still these
13:16games where it's funny when we do play ratings after the match, you either give him an eight
13:21out of ten because he scored one or two and he's done fantastic, or you give him four because he's
13:26barely touched the ball. So there's no real in-between with him. But listen, when he gets a
13:30chance, he invariably will tuck it away. Just kind of remarkable levels of efficiency in front of goal.
13:36And as you said, he has had the summer off, he's looking rested and he himself said it's almost
13:43the best he's ever felt since he's been at City. So that's certainly plenty of reason for City's
13:48rivals to be concerned about. Because if he can manage to better what he's done in previous
13:53campaigns, then it will be very, very difficult for anyone to stop City winning the title.
13:58So yeah, we'll have to see obviously how it all pans out. But yeah, Haaland's just astronomical
14:04levels once again. Yeah, just doing a quick calculation then. If he plays 38 games and
14:09continues scoring at a rate of 1.42 per 90, he will be on 54 goals for the end of the season.
14:16But obviously that's just a calculation. But I'll never count that out.
14:22Speaking of the attack, Chris, just in terms of a backup, Alvarez left in the summer.
14:28It's kind of all on Erling Haaland's shoulders to score. But can they find goals from elsewhere,
14:32do you think?
14:34Yeah, I think they need to. I think they're in a similar position to Arsenal. Maybe not having
14:39that kind of backup striker or that guy who gets you lots of goals and can kind of compete with
14:47Erling Haaland. They don't really have that kind of player. I think similar to Arsenal,
14:50maybe with Gabriel Jesus, who has been criticised for not getting enough goals.
14:56Yeah, perhaps they do need to go in the market for that kind of player in January. But I think
15:00with Man City, they always kind of target such elite players that it might be difficult to
15:06attract that kind of player in January. So, yeah, let's wait and see. But I think they're
15:11doing okay so far and previous seasons suggest that they probably don't need
15:17maybe an extra player in that position. So, yeah, let's see.
15:21But one question I love is this classic slow starters.
15:26Are we seeing that again? Or is it going to repeat itself again where they just
15:30slowly tick into gear and then become this unstoppable freight train after Christmas?
15:37Possibly. It's funny, actually. I asked Pep this in the last press conference,
15:40that there's a bit of a stereotype that City start slowly and almost peak in March, April,
15:45May. And his response was very much, no, no, we want to pick up as many points now as we can.
15:49We're not thinking about March. I think he said something like we could be 20 points behind
15:53Arsenal by then, if we think like that. So, he might not have said Arsenal. He definitely said
15:5720 points behind. But I think that, I mean, the start's been good. They've played 7-1-5.
16:05The two that have drawn are Arsenal and St James' Park. They are certainly not bad results. So,
16:10it's been a good start. I think that maybe the one, not concern, but area that you think they'll
16:17get better at is they've slowly eased players in this season. The likes of the England internationals
16:22who were the Euros were basically almost given the first month, six weeks off of the season.
16:27Guardiola said the pre-season ended after the third game of the season, which kind of sums up,
16:33I suppose, in terms of a slow start that they were certainly easing themselves back in a little bit.
16:39I don't think they've hit their top form yet. And that does tend to come later in the season.
16:44But we'll see. But I certainly don't think by any stretch it has been a slow start as such.
16:52But at the same time, if they were to drop points over the next six, seven games,
16:56I also wouldn't be really concerned because I just know what they can click into come,
17:02as I say, when we get into the spring months.
17:06And just very quickly, is there a possibility of standing a Rodger replacement in January,
17:10do you think? Or do you think that's out of the question?
17:13I think it's possible. Pep has been asked about this a couple of times now,
17:17and his response is, well, there's no one in world football who can do what Rodger does.
17:21So, there's no leg-for-leg replacement out there. Look, it's a very probably long,
17:26complicated answer. City opted against spending a lot of money in the summer.
17:31Their feeling is always, and Pep's feeling is always, that he wants to work with a smaller
17:35squad. I don't really think he could work with a much smaller squad than what he's working with
17:39now. When you factor in that Rodger's injured, you've got Oscar Bob injured as well. A small
17:43squad, which is missing two first team players, is already an issue. So, could he look to add an
17:52extra option in midfield? I think it's possible. I think if the right player comes up at the right
17:56price, City would do it. They're not going to pay over the odds. They have proven that time and
17:59time again over the years. Albeit, I think there probably is a feeling that the squad is maybe just
18:06slightly light at the moment. But look, I think it's in the bigger, so many bigger questions being
18:11asked at City at the moment. What is going to be the outcome of this Premier League case? Is
18:15Guardiola still going to be there next season? So, all these are also factors into, do they go and
18:19sign someone in January? Because are they going to sign someone in January who potentially,
18:23a new manager comes in in the summer and it's not a player for him? I don't know. I think that's
18:28probably unlikely. But there's a lot of factors in play at the moment at City.
18:34Thanks for that insight. And we'll move on to Liverpool now, which is the club I'm covering.
18:39Arnie Slott's beginning has been sensational. Nine wins in 10 games in all competitions. That
18:44one defeat to Forest, which was a shock, as you said, Chris. How do you think he's been in life
18:50after Jurgen Klopp filling those shoes? Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about the
18:57football, yeah, I think they've done okay. I mean, in terms of replacing Klopp as an actual
19:02kind of figure and, you know, he doesn't have the same kind of charisma that Klopp has from what
19:08we've seen so far. And there's nothing wrong with that. I think you can say the same for
19:12Ten Hag at Man United. But I think, yeah, I think in terms of the kind of overall package of
19:19replacing Klopp, it's going to be very difficult for Liverpool to find someone like that. And I
19:24think maybe they just have to accept that. I also think he was a little bit disrespectful
19:29after the game against Forest, almost disrespectful towards the team, Forest as a club. I don't think
19:40many were pleased with his comments about that. But look, yeah, it's been a good start for
19:46Liverpool. I think they're not going to challenge for the title, but I think they will certainly
19:51come close this season in terms of maybe third or fourth. And, yeah, I think it maybe will be a
19:58bit of a season of transition and probably towards the end of the season is where we get to see
20:03exactly how good they are. And just in terms of who's stood out so far, Ryan Gravenberch in
20:09midfield has been sensational in that deep midfield role. Filling that role, they thought it
20:15was going to be Martin Zubermandi. It wasn't. Slott found that solution in him. And I just
20:20wanted to single out him and the two centre-backs, Van Dijk and Karnate, who probably have been the
20:26best duo in terms of individual performances this season. Saliba and Gabriel are sensational. But I
20:31think so far what we've seen across all competitions, they've been brilliant. Michael, just
20:37do those three, do they stand out for you so far? Yeah, I mean, people have spoken about Chelsea,
20:43perhaps, maybe whether they can win the title. But Villa as well. I don't think either of those
20:48two will be involved in the shake-up. I think it will. Truthfully, I think it probably will be
20:53City and Arsenal. I don't think it's impossible Liverpool pushed them. But I think that squad
21:00was proven over last season that they're just slightly lacking in certain areas. And the
21:04reality is they haven't really addressed those in the summer. I think they're light in centre-back
21:08numbers, which is an issue. And I don't think that maybe, I mean, Gravenberch has obviously
21:14played that slightly deeper role, but I maybe think they are lacking a bit of feeler. They just
21:18control games a little bit at times. But I think he's made a really good start slot. I nearly said
21:23clop. I think he's made a really good start. And I think that it'll be over the coming weeks that
21:28we really see this team's credentials, because I think we've got a space of about six weeks.
21:34They play Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Villa and then Real Madrid. So that's going to be the big test,
21:40isn't it? And I think once we get the other side of those games, we'll really know where this
21:44Liverpool team are and whether they are ready to compete at the very top again.
21:49Yeah, Chelsea and Arsenal in back-to-back games in the league coming up after the international
21:54break. Now Alisson as well. Could be potentially very interesting. I think so far Liverpool have
22:01been, I think that the transition so far from slot to, their clop to slot has been really
22:06pretty seamless, really. I think he talked about leaving him a great squad to inherit. And
22:11it's not like when we saw Moyes come into United when he was given a mess of a squad.
22:17This is different. This is a squad that's really well balanced, I think, with great quality and
22:21youth and really experienced players in that spine as well. So he's picked up from that. And I think
22:26so far it's been really good. But like I said, tougher test to come. And just finally, on your
22:32two clubs, since you've ruled out Liverpool, it seems, are you going to stick by your club or
22:38are you going to give us something different here? Chris, give us a quick title prediction.
22:43Yeah, I think Arsenal are going to win the title. Pretty sure I said that last season, Michael,
22:49as well, didn't I? But yeah, I think the performance against Manchester City,
22:55I don't know, really kind of told us something about this kind of character
22:59and the spirit in the Arsenal team. And secondly, Makaio Sakura has publicly said
23:06he believes Arsenal are going to win the title this season, which is pretty rare for a player
23:10to come out and say that. So that gives me a bit more kind of optimism as well when one of the
23:15best players in the team thinks that the team is going to win the league. So, yeah, I think it's
23:18going to be it's going to be a close run thing, as it always is. But I think this is probably
23:23Arsenal's best chance to win the league since last season. It's funny you say that on the flip
23:32side, Manuela Kanji said he doesn't think that Arsenal are going to win the league today.
23:35You know, someone's going to be wrong, aren't they? You know what? If I put money on it right
23:41now, I'd put money on Arsenal. I think without Rodri it's going to be such a big, you know,
23:47transformation for City to make. There's a lot going on in our football club this season. There's
23:53a lot of things that need to be sorted out, ironed out. And I don't say with any huge confidence
24:01because I also just think that it's been proven time and time again that it's almost impossible to
24:06beat Gualeola over a 38-game season. But tentatively, tentatively, I would just say that
24:11Arsenal and they seem, just as the football club at the moment, seem to have a bit of momentum
24:14behind them. The momentum in football is just huge and it just feels maybe slightly like the
24:20writing's on the wall for them a little bit this season. But we'll have to see. Come back, ask me
24:25in the middle of May and I'll have a better idea.
24:28Yeah, I'll join Arsenal as well. I just think this could be their year. So, yeah, thanks so
24:34much for the insight, guys. And yeah, we'll look forward to what is going to be another
24:40exciting title race with two very quality teams and Liverpool who are hoping to run in behind.
24:47But we'll just see how this progresses over the season. So, thanks again for your time.