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• Slot's flying Premier League start unprecedented, claims Wright-Phillips

  Shaun Wright-Phillips has been blown away by Arne Slot's remarkable start as Liverpool head coach.

  Slot took over ahead of the season following Jurgen Klopp's departure.

  Having enjoyed success at Feyenoord, Slot has hit the ground running at Anfield.

  He has lost just one game so far, with Liverpool leading the Premier League by nine points, while they are top of the Champions League standings with a perfect record and are into the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

  Slot's Reds are averaging 2.3 goals per game, while conceding just 0.6 on average, and former England international Wright-Phillips has been hugely impressed.

  "I don't think I have [seen such a strong start]. He's done tremendously well in so many phases of the game," Wright-Phillips told Stats Perform.

  "If you think of Klopp's style — high-risk, high-energy football — Slot hasn't changed too much but doesn't risk the ball as much.

   

  "They still play a similar direct style, as we saw against City. It seemed like they went direct more often than in previous games.

  "He seems to have a great handle on it. It'll be interesting to see how they bounce back after the Christmas period, which will be tough with Champions League games and back-to-back Premier League fixtures.

  "He may not be used to playing that regularly, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles this period."

  Liverpool are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, which is their biggest lead in the competition since they won the title in the 2019-20 season.

  According to the Opta supercomputer, the Reds now have an 83.7% chance of going on to win the title.

• Roma 0-2 Atalanta: De Roon and Zaniolo make it eight Serie A wins in a row

  Nicolo Zaniolo scored against his former side as Atalanta defeated Roma 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico on Monday to make it eight Serie A wins in a row and move within one point of leaders Napoli.

  Marten de Roon opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the box that heavily deflected in off Zeki Celik, before substitute Zaniolo sealed the points in the final minute with a glancing header.

  Claudio Ranieri was taking charge of Roma on home soil for the first time since returning for a third spell in charge and saw his side start brightly, with Leandro Paredes testing Marco Carnesecchi and Manu Kone firing just wide.

  Atalanta had an Ademola Lookman goal ruled out for offside before half-time as they started to assert a little more authority on the game.

  Artem Dovbyk was next to go close for Roma, forcing Carnesecchi into a good save, but Atalanta captain De Roon found the breakthrough at the other end when his deflected shot wrong-footed Mile Svilar.

  Zaniolo then got his head to Juan Cuadrado's corner for Atalanta's second, which he did not hold back on celebrating with the travelling fans, as 15th-placed Roma were condemned to a fourth league loss in a row for the first time in 16 years.

  EIGHT IN A ROW! #RomaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/8UQPlAsiXf

  — Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 2, 2024

  Data Debrief: Game goes way of the form book

  This is only the second time Atalanta have ever won eight Serie A matches in a row, having previously done so between February and July 2020.

  Roma's form could not be any more contrasting, as they have lost four on the spin in the league for the first time since 2008 under Luciano Spalletti.

  I Giallorossi have now picked up just one point from their past four Serie A fixtures against Atalanta, losing four and drawing one of those encounters.

• Wright-Phillips backs Man City to turn things around

  Shaun Wright-Phillips has backed Manchester City to turn their form around and refused to rule them out of the Premier League title race.

  City were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, with Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah getting the goals for the rampant Reds.

  Pep Guardiola's team are winless in seven games in all competitions and have now lost their last five league matches.

  Sunday's defeat left them 11 points behind Liverpool after 13 games, and their title hopes are dangling by a thread. Indeed, the Opta supercomputer gives City just a 4.3% chance of retaining the title.

  But former City winger Wright-Phillips thinks his old club are still in with a chance, if they rediscover their "addiction to winning".

  He told Stats Perform: "I'm very confident [in Man City]. I've been lucky enough to have been around the pre-season camps over the last two years and seen the mentality of not only the players but the manager, the coaching staff, and even the staff behind the scenes.

  "They've set such high standards for themselves in terms of what they've achieved over the last four years that any dip feels like something is really wrong. But a lot of the players, like some in other teams, didn't have a full pre-season and are still trying to get minutes under their belts and get fit.

  "Pep rarely makes excuses. He deals with the hand he's got and tries to find solutions. But with players coming back into the fold, like Kevin De Bruyne getting minutes and Jeremy Doku coming on to liven up the game, you can see the threats are still there.

  "Chances will come. And with a man like Erling Haaland up front, I don't think they’ll have much of a problem.

  "It's just about getting that first win, regaining that feeling, hunger, and addiction to winning. Once they do, I think they'll be fine."

   

  Guardiola faced chants of "getting sacked in the morning" from the Liverpool fans on Sunday, though smiled his way through it before holding up six fingers, representing his six Premier League titles.

  He also did the same towards the travelling City fans at the end of the match.

  "I think it's brilliant," said Wright-Phillips. "Things like that are good for the game. It's not him being arrogant, and it's not Liverpool fans being a nuisance.

  "I've played at Anfield, and it's a daunting ground to go to, but I've always had a laugh with the fans about what they say.

  "If I was on the bench, I'd turn around and just laugh at it. They have good banter, and as soon as Pep responded, they laughed, and it kind of went away.

  "It shows there's mutual respect. There's not much more they could have sung about Pep apart from something funny because what he’s achieved within the game — period, not just in the Premier League — is phenomenal."

  City host Nottingham Forest in their next Premier League game on Wednesday.