“They're best team in the world right now. Most of the players are fit, there are not many injuries, not many suspensions, everything is going really well for them,” he tells Tribalfootball.com, accepting the fact that you can’t win them all after a monstrous second half at St. James’ Park on Wednesday night.
The 3-3 draw with Newcastle cut their lead to seven points in the table, but Berger is still full of praise for new boss Arne Slot.
“Considering they have a new coach, and a lot of fans were sceptical about how he was going to do after Jürgen Klopp, it's been unbelievable so far. Slot himself is saying that Jürgen Klopp left a very, very good team behind him and he did, obviously, because I think we did very well last season too. Up until March, we were in every single competition and playing well.
“And apart from Chiesa they didn't even buy anybody in the summer, which surprised a lot of people. But it looks like he knows what he's doing. He deserves massive credit to where they are at the moment.”
Mentally, how do you think they'll go about protecting the lead they’ve built up in the Premier League?
“I think they're just going to do, as they have done from the beginning of the season. They're just going to go game by game. They know themselves that the Premier League and the Champions League are both very tough competitions. Premier League especially is a very difficult competition. Where you are right at a certain moment, doesn't mean that’s where you're going to be at the end of the season.
“There are so many games to play, so many points to play for. So, it's far from over. I think they know not to get carried away by where they are. I mean, if someone would’ve told them when the season started that at the beginning of December, you're going to have a seven-point lead and you're going to be the best team in the Champions League, they would have taken that any time.”
Having built up this lead in both the Premier League and the Champions League, how do you think they'll approach these last Champions League games and the two cup competitions?
“I don't think they'll be changing anything. I think they're just going to do exactly what they have been doing from the beginning. It is a long season, and you can see that Slot is rotating a little bit more than he did at the beginning of the season because it's so many games. Obviously, the Christmas period is a very, very difficult schedule. You play games every three days. FA Cup is starting right after the New Year's Eve.”
Should Mo Salah end up leaving Anfield, do you see any wingers out there capable of replacing him?
“No. To find someone like him, to create and score goals, like he has been doing for the last couple of years, it's almost impossible. Where do you have a player in the world at the moment who can score 25 goals and make 15 assists every single season? I don't think there's a player like that right now. You can see he is fit; he is hungry for success. I think he can play like this for the next two or three years. Easily.”
In a perfect world, Liverpool re-sign both Trent, Salah and Virgil van Dijk, but if one had to go, who would you choose?
“If we’re talking a short-term contract for two-three years I would probably keep Virgil and Salah because I think these players are so important for us. Van Dijk can play like this for the next three years, he's been the best centre-half in the world and I don't think we can find anybody like him. And if we could, he would be so expensive, over a hundred million pounds, easy. But I don't even think there is anybody like him in the world and it is the same thing with Mo Salah. So, I think the less harm for Liverpool would be Trent leaving. I don't think he's such a key player for us like Van Dijk and Mo Salah are."
Patrik Berger was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of spelbolagutansvensklicens.co