Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes the Reds must capitalise on Manchester City’s stuttering start to the Premier League season. The Citizens have been hampered by injuries to central defensive duo Aymeric Laporte and John Stones and the former is expected to be sidelined for a significant part of the season following a knee surgery.

Speaking on TalkSPORT, Carragher said that the Citizens have been hampered by multiple injury concerns at the heart of the backline and that has contributed to the Reds gaining an eight-point advantage at the top of the standings. He added that the Merseyside outfit must not get carried away with the outcome and they need to capitalise as much as possible.

He told: “What we’re seeing with Manchester City now is that they’re hurt by injuries all in the same position. That’s a problem for anyone. They’ve got a better squad than Liverpool and you see how much it’s hurting them. So you think it would actually hurt Liverpool more if they had injuries themselves. To be fair, City have injuries in a position where they’re weak at centre-back in terms of numbers and quality. I don’t think anyone in Liverpool is getting carried away. It’s a great position to be in, no doubt. And what Liverpool have to do is capitalise as much as possible.”

Nicolas Otamendi is currently the only fit senior central defender and he has been accompanied by midfielder Fernandinho over the past few weeks. Stones is expected to provide a boost by making an injury comeback after the international break but there are still question marks whether the centre-back can go through an extended period of time without sustaining another setback.

The Mancunian giants have made a disappointing beginning to the season where they have already suffered a couple of league defeats and they can’t any more slip-ups. Jurgen Klopp’s side are presently the favourites to win their maiden Premier League title but they face a huge test of their credentials, considering the expectations are bound to rise.