Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler gives his verdict after Arne Slot’s Premier League champions slumped to their fifth defeat of the season at Manchester City on SundayRobbie Fowler on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast alongside comedian Paddy McGuinness

Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler says Arne Slot’s team now have to be flawless to retain their Premier League title after Sunday’s 3-0 loss at Manchester City left them eight points behind leaders Arsenal. The Reds suffered their fifth league defeat in 11 games last weekend as goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku secured a decisive victory for Pep Guardiola in his 1,000th game in management.

Slot said after the game that his team’s form means he is no longer thinking about being part of the title picture and Fowler, who scored 183 goals in 369 games, thinks the champions are almost certain not to lose their crown now.

“I am different [to fans],” Fowler told Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and comedian Paddy McGuinness on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast.

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“I have obviously played the game and I am more of a realest as the lads will tell you, you have an understanding of the game and the manager will come out and he’ll say all the right things, don’t get me wrong. You can’t say, ‘we’ve given up [on the title]’, because that sounds terrible as an outsider looking in.

“But you have got to have a bit of realism as well because I think history probably tells you there’s probably only two teams who have won the Premier League on the back of six or seven defeats. It’ll be hard for Liverpool now, if they are going to win the league, they’ve got to win virtually every game.

“And I am not saying they can’t even draw games, they have got to win them. So I think they’re out of the title [race] but I don’t think they come out and say that they are in it but they have got to have that professionalism where you still need to kick on and try and get the points.

“It was a poor game from a Liverpool point of view. I am not looking for excuses but I thought City were brilliant and they got back to the levels from a couple of years ago. Liverpool, I got asked before the game: ‘Are Liverpool out of a little bit of a rut?’ – and I thought, don’t get carried away.

“Okay, they beat Aston Villa, who had a good run before Liverpool, but for 45 minutes Liverpool weren’t great and then they beat (Real) Madrid. So it’s only 45 minutes in a league game where they’ve played relatively okay. I think they’re out of the title (race).

“Have they made too many changes? They have not all played. The Aston Villa and Real Madrid game, there was only (Hugo) Ekitike who played. I get people’s argument about Liverpool being in a bit of a transitional period but I don’t fall into that category, I just think, at the start of the year, every club is.

“New players come in, a new ethos, a new coach, so that is a transitional period. So you talk about Liverpool signing all the players and you go down the realms of sporting directors, you know, Liverpool have signed the best in class, if you like.

“So the Premier League team of the year last year had five Liverpool players and it also had Alexander Isak and Milos Kerkez. So ultimately, you’re going to sign them because they are the best ones and they have signed the best player in Germany (Bundesliga player of the year Florian Wirtz).”

On Wirtz specifically, Fowler added: “I think he is a No.10. I can’t see why people are saying he needs to come in off the left. This is where I think Liverpool are looking to maybe shoehorn people into positions. This is one of the problems they have and it is up to the manager to find a system to get the best out of all the players.

“Liverpool’s identity is not what it was a few years ago when you had the [Roberto] Firminos, the [Sadio] Manes, the [Mohamed] Salahs. They are not like that now. I will never have a go at Salah because his numbers are [great]. It’s probably similar to Pep [Guardiola] last year, he signed a load of players in January and City weren’t great but you look at them now.”

Liverpool return to action when they host Nottingham Forest on the other side of the international break on November 22.