James Milner On Title Challenge “We Can Beat Anyone On Our Day”

There is a buzz surrounding this current Liverpool squad, the likes the club hasn’t experienced for some time. After an exciting 2017-18 campaign that culminated with a surprise run to the Champions League title followed by a blitzkrieg transfer window performance, the expectation that Jürgen Klopp’s squad will mount the only serious domestic challenge to a scarily good Manchester City this season has been moot point.

While a comprehensive 4-0 win over West Ham on Matchday 1 saw the Reds dominate a souped up Hammers side from start to finish has only fueled the title talk, Liverpool vice-captain, James Milner has insisted that the squad is refusing to buy into the hype prematurely:

“That’s for other people to talk about,” the 32-year-old told reporters while on PR duty for a charity match he will be managing in next month.

“You guys [the media] are going to discuss it, we just want to start the season well and keep improving as a squad and see where that takes us.

“Obviously it is early days and the first game of the season you want to get off to a good start, it is very important.”

The ex-England international was Man of the Match in the victory over the Londoners, receiving the start due to captain Jordan Henderson managed reintroduction to the squad following a long World Cup campaign with the Three Lions.

“It is never easy coming out of pre-season when you have players returning at different times due to the World Cup,” Milner continued. “But you just want to get off to a good start and get a win.”

“I thought it was a good performance and I am sure it will improve as the season goes on.

“It was a good starting point, plenty we can work on but the best possible start and hopefully we can kick on from there.

“We feel we can beat anyone on our day, we have proved that but it is about having that consistency and we will know how difficult it is to win a league title and have that consistency and do it over 38 games.

“For us, we will just let other people talk about the challenges, it is down to us to go out there and perform and get as many points as we can.”