Manchester City may have backed themselves to beat Liverpool in the Premier League next season after witnessing Crystal Palace expose the chinks in their armour as the Reds lost the FA Community Shield.
In the first-half, Arne Slot’s side were purring — with goals from Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong being an ominous sight for their title rivals.
However, Ismaila Sarr’s equaliser coupled with Crystal Palace coming out on top in the penalty shootout showed that both City and Arsenal need not discount themselves out in the title fight due to the Merseyside-based club’s excellent summer business.
Manchester City fans claimed that while Liverpool are a top side, their defeat against Crystal Palace demonstrates that their side could very well dethrone Arne Slot and Co as the Premier League champions during the upcoming campaign.
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Man City fans confident in the title race after Liverpool lose to Crystal Palace
One Manchester City fan claimed that Liverpool could get found out in the title race due to Arne Slot’s inexperience and some of their senior players potentially suffering injuries, claiming: “Beginner’s luck for Slot last season. He will get found out this time around. And his older players will eventually get injuries too, let’s see how he deals with that.”
A second City supporter claimed that the Sky Blues’ backline is superior to the Merseyside-based club’s, which could give them an upper hand over the Premier League champions in the title fight: “I am not joking when I say this, our defence is better than theirs. Those transitions are awful, VVD [Virgil van Dijk] looks every second of 34 and the full-backs can’t track back in time. Interested to see what the table looks like come February-March.”
A third Manchester City fan explained that much like Pep Guardiola’s side, both Liverpool and Arsenal are far from flawless as well: “City definitely have some concerns, but I also think Liverpool aren’t infallible. Arsenal probably the most defensively solid but lack the X-factor the other teams have. Should be an interesting season.”
A fourth City supporter stressed that being too afraid of this Liverpool side is futile, considering they are not on the level of their treble-winning team: “It’s early and they’ll improve but they’re not treble winners or anything.”
A fifth fan simply asked the question: “Is this the mighty Liverpool side that no one had a chance getting near to this season?”
Lastly, a sixth Manchester City fan claimed that Liverpool are not the juggernaut that fans and pundits believe they are, writing: “Going to say it now…and I hope I don’t eat my words, but Liverpool aren’t the team everyone thinks they’re going to be.”
It’s safe to say that the result of the Community Shield has stirred up plenty of discourse among the City fanbase.
What Man City did the last time Liverpool lost the Community Shield
Manchester City fans will be hoping that they bounce back next season and beat Liverpool to the title.
Pep Guardiola aims to win the league and writing the Catalan tactician off too prematurely would be a grave error to say the least.
Furthermore, the last time Liverpool lost the Community Shield was to Arsenal in 2020 as City went on to win four league titles in a row.
As a result, perhaps Sky Blues fans have a few reasons to hope Arne Slot’s side suffer a decline during the upcoming campaign.
