"Draws are defeats now" - Jamie Carragher delivers blunt Liverpool Premier League title race verdict

Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has rued over the Reds’ 'terrible start' to the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, fearing that it will be tough for them to catch Manchester City now.

The 19-time English champions have had a disappointing start to the Premier League season. They were held to a 2-2 draw at Fulham in their Premier League opener on August 6 before enduring another stalemate against Crystal Palace (1-1) on matchday two (August 15).

Manchester City, on the other hand, have enjoyed a perfect start, picking up consecutive wins over West Ham United (2-0 on August 7) and Bournemouth (4-0 on August 13), respectively.

After two matchdays, City find themselves four points ahead of the Merseysiders, and Carragher is afraid that Jurgen Klopp’s side might find it difficult to catch the defending champions.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football (via the Mirror), the former England international said:

“It’s been a terrible start for Liverpool points-wise. I actually thought Liverpool were outstanding tonight in the first half before the Palace goal and how they reacted to going down to 10 men.

“Draws are defeats now. We know the bar has been raised so far now by Manchester City and Liverpool in the last few years. You’re giving yourself a tough thing to catch one of the greatest teams we’ve ever seen in the Premier League.”

Klopp’s Reds fell a point short in the Premier League title race last season, with the Cityzens edging them in the final quarter of the final matchday of the 2021-22 campaign.

Allowing City to pull ahead so early in the 2022-23 season could spell doom for the Anfield outfit’s title aspirations.

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Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez shows his inexperience in Crystal Palace draw

New recruit Darwin Nunez made headlines for all the wrong reasons on Monday night, seeing a straight red for an unwarranted headbutt on Joachim Andersen.

The pair had a heated exchange leading up to the 57th-minute foul, but the headbutt was triggered by Andersen’s shove in Nunez’s back. The former Benfica man failed to retain his composure and committed a blatant foul on the Dane.

The fact that the striker allowed the defender to get under his skin so easily might give Klopp some sleepless nights.

The Reds were a goal down at the time of Nunez’s dismissal, which made matters worse. Thankfully, Luis Diaz had plenty of gas left in his tank and scored a brilliant solo goal to equalize for the hosts just four minutes after the red card.