December 1st 2024.
Stefan Ortega was feeling extremely frustrated after his team's 2-0 defeat at Anfield on Sunday. As the goalkeeper for Manchester City, he was disappointed with their performance against Liverpool, managed by Arne Slot. In fact, his frustration was so evident that he made a shocking statement, declaring that the city of Liverpool was "probably not the best part" of the United Kingdom.
It was clear that Ortega's emotions were running high, especially after City's top-flight title hopes took a major hit with this loss. During the match, the Liverpool fans even went as far as taunting City's manager, Pep Guardiola, by chanting that he would be sacked the next morning. This only added to Ortega's anger and he took a jab at the entire city of Liverpool, saying, "Someone told me before that this area [Liverpool] is probably not the best part in the UK. I think the manager reacted really well."
The rivalry between Liverpool and City has been intense in recent years, reaching its peak in the 2019-20 season when Liverpool won the Premier League under Jurgen Klopp. After Klopp's departure at the end of last season, it was expected that Liverpool would go through a transitional phase under new manager Arne Slot. However, this has not been the case as Slot's team is currently in contention to lift this season's Premier League trophy.
In fact, after their impressive 2-0 win over City, Liverpool now has a nine-point lead at the top of the table, with Arsenal and Chelsea trailing behind in second and third place, respectively. Football pundit Gary Neville believes that Liverpool are now the "strong favourites" to win this season's Premier League title. He stated, "None of us expected it. I think Liverpool fans expected it. They may have expected them to finish in the top four, but it's absolutely brilliant what Arne Slot has done."
Neville went on to say that the expectations for Liverpool have now changed and the pressure is on for them to maintain their lead. He added, "It's gone from being a honeymoon period, a great start, to hang on a minute. There's a real expectation, but they'll be very, very strong favourites. Nine points clear of Arsenal, 11 points clear of Manchester City, and there's still four or five months to go. The title race doesn't start until April. We're just in early December."
Despite acknowledging that there is still a long way to go, Neville believes that Liverpool are now the team to beat and there is a certain level of expectation placed upon them. As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see if Liverpool can maintain their lead and ultimately lift the Premier League trophy.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
