Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has defended Liverpool against accusations made by Roy Keane that the Reds have been “bad champions” following their 4-1 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are now ten points off the top of the table, but Merson was quick to defend the Merseyside club, saying it is only been in the last few weeks that things have begun to unravel:

“I don’t think Liverpool have been that bad as champions. They’ve had three bad results, when before that they were top of the league. They were still favourites to win the title four or five weeks ago. They’ve taken it this far and have had a lot of injuries. In the games they’ve lost, they’ve been so disappointing. Every game they’ve lost bar the City one has been so winnable.”

“Against Newcastle, West Brom, Brighton, Burnley – last season, they were near on gimmes. The West Brom game was one of the most one-sided matches I’ve seen all season, and they took the foot off the pedal, got lackadaisical and it ended up 1-1. Against Newcastle, Salah missed a sitter and the goalie had the game of his life. Salah also missed a chance to go 1-0 up against Brighton and then that’s a different game. I can’t say they’ve been bad champions.”

It is surprising to hear Merson being the voice of reason in this debate, but Keane’s comments were way out of line, considering the huge number of problems that Liverpool have faced in recent months.

Even fellow pundit Gary Neville described the Reds’ situation as a “perfect storm” with injuries combined with a truncated season with no fans contributing to a turbulent period for the club.

Merson does think that whatever happens, though, the club will be able to recover to finish in the top four.