Michael Owen reckons the coming week could have a huge bearing on Liverpool ’s season — because they no longer have a 'Get Out Of Jail Free card'.
Owen’s old club have a massive all-British tie in the Champions League on Tuesday when Rangers visit Anfield. And after the 4-1 defeat by Napoli in this season’s Champions League opener, he knows his club cannot afford another slip if they want to reach the knockout phase of the competition.
Next Sunday, they then face Arsenal in the Premier League and if after their mixed start to the season they were to suffer another defeat, then they could well find the gap between themselves and favourites Manchester City was already too great to overcome. Owen said: “There’s no denying Liverpool have not been at their best this season but they can easily bounce back.
“The problem with Liverpool at the minute, and I wouldn’t say their season is teetering at all, but the season is only a couple of results from being a case of, ‘Oh, my gosh! How do we get out of this?’ Two bad results in the Champions League after the first result and then two more bad results in the next two games in the Premier League would mean they are so far behind Manchester City. It’s almost like they’ve gotten rid of their 'Get Out Of Jail card' already, their buffer.
“The Rangers game is massive, because to get six points out of the first three games wouldn’t be a disaster, especially after the start, and I still see them going through. But in the league they really can’t afford many more slip-ups now and it’s not like they’ve had a really challenging opening to the league campaign.” Tuesday’s clash will, remarkably, be the first competitive game between Liverpool and Rangers, and while Liverpool looked awful against Napoli and shaky in their 2-1 win against Ajax, the Glasgow giants have been well thumped by both of them.
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First, they were beaten 4-0 in Amsterdam and then 3-0 at home by the Italians. Owen added: “Rangers’ players will be used to huge occasions — they play Celtic four times a season and they are involved a lot in Europe. However, in saying that, they won’t be used to playing against a team as good as Liverpool, so that’s a small caveat. The only good thing for them is that Liverpool aren’t at their brilliant best, so they will be going to Anfield with a little bit of hope when two or three years ago you’d really be fearing for them.
“Liverpool aren’t absolutely flying but still obvious it’s a formidable ask for Rangers. At Ibrox it will be a different kettle of fish, but at Anfield I expect it to be reasonably straightforward for Liverpool. Rangers’ scorelines in their first two games wouldn’t give you too much optimism. And Liverpool are full of quality, and we all know what they are like on European nights when Anfield is a really special place. The other thing for Rangers is that Liverpool really need a win. They squeezed past Ajax in the last game and could do with at least four points from two games against Rangers but hopefully six and that should see them through after their initial wobble.”
Watch Liverpool v Rangers in the UEFA Champions League exclusively live on BT Sport 2 from 6:30pm on Tuesday 4th October. For more info, visit btsport.com
