Liverpool eight clear, Amorim draws first United game

AP:

IT HAS been more than 30 years since a team held as big a lead as Liverpool after 12 rounds of the Premier League.

Not that Arne Slot is getting too excited about an eight-point advantage before even hitting December.

“It’s nice to have this position,” the Liverpool manager said yesterday after Mohamed Salah’s second-half double inspired a 3-2 come-from-behind win at Southampton, “but we are definitely not getting carried away”.

Only Manchester United’s class of 1993-’94 – under Alex Ferguson – has had a larger lead than Slot’s Liverpool at this stage of a Premier League campaign. The title stayed at Old Trafford that season.

It is those kind of glory days that Ruben Amorim is trying to recreate after taking charge of United, and the Portuguese coach’s tenure could hardly have got off to a better start.

Only 81 seconds had elapsed before United marked Amorim’s first game at the helm with a goal from Marcus Rashford at Ipswich.

United couldn’t hold out and a 1-1 draw against a team destined to be battling against relegation underlined the scale of Amorim’s task to turn around the fortunes of a fallen giant in English football.

“It was really hard for them,” Amorim said of United’s players.

“They were thinking what to do – it was not fluid, which is normal after just two training sessions, but they tried hard.

“They have so much space to improve. But after a draw, you never feel the good things.”

Salah moved onto 10 goals for the league campaign, second behind Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (12), and Liverpool now have 10 victories in 12 league games.

It is a start to the season Slot could only have dreamed about after joining from Feyenoord for the tough job of replacing Jurgen Klopp.

Helping Liverpool is the alarming form of defending champions Manchester City, whose stunning third straight league loss – 4-0 at home to Tottenham on Saturday – was a fifth defeat in a row in all competitions.

Second-place City head to Liverpool next weekend and could be 11 points behind the Reds after that match at Anfield.