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Liverpool started its Premier League season with a thrilling victory over Bournemouth on Friday but it is Manchester City that leads the way after its thrashing of Wolves.
Pep Guardiola has made a number of changes to his squad this summer, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish being allowed to move on. There have been plenty of additions too, including Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri who have both previously been linked with Liverpool.
Nevertheless, it was Tijani Reijnders who stole the show at Molineux. The Dutch midfielder arrived at City earlier in the summer in a $63 million (£46m) move from AC Milan and he has certainly hit the ground running.
After Erling Haaland had opened the scoring against Wolves, Reijnders soon added a second, firing past Jose Sa with his left foot after good work from Oscar Bobb.
There was more to come as the pair linked up again in the second half. Reijnders played a smart one-two with his teammate before his clever pull back was lashed home by Haaland. Cherki then added a fourth from the bench for the visitors.
Reijnders may be a familiar name to Liverpool fans. He has been previously linked with a move to Anfield, and he came face-to-face with the Reds in the opening game of this season’s Champions League back in September.
In fact, before the game, Slot namechecked the midfielder as one of the players Liverpool would have to be wary of.
“I don't know if the translation is correct but the word 'scared' was used, if I was scared for some players, or for us in Milan,” Slot began.
“I don't think any manager or any team is scared to play the other team but we have a lot of respect for the quality and the players and the history of Milan.
"The first one that comes to my mind is a Dutch player - Tijjani Reijnders - who has done really well over here and also for the Dutch national team last week.
“So, they have quality players. We're not scared but we do respect all of their players because they have shown last Saturday that they are in good form. They had a very good 4-0 win. So, we respect Milan a lot, but 'scared' is not the word we would use.”
Liverpool would go on to win the game at the San Siro 3-1 on its way to topping the league phase. City though won’t be deterred by Milan’s defeat that night, and Slot’s review of Reijnders would suggest Pep Guardiola is getting a player highly-rated by the Reds boss.
This article was first published in May 2025. It has since been updated.
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