Klopp factor key as finishing line looms

Who will win the Premier League?

JOHN CROSS

MANCHESTER CITY. Their performance was by no means perfect at Anfield. But it has actually strengthened my belief that they will win the title.

Why? To concede a stupid penalty, lose your first-choice keeper, be up against a tidal wave of pressure and noise, yet still come through and get a point takes serious experience and know-how.

This is actually the first time we’ve had a threehorse race – three teams separated by one win with 10 or fewer games to go – in a decade. Arsenal are scoring for fun (Declan Rice celebrating, above) But they still have to go to City, Manchester United and Tottenham.

City and Liverpool have easier run-ins, in my view.

I love what Liverpool have done this season. And they have the Jurgen Klopp factor on their side.

They want to give him a great send-off. But City have the experience – and they will do it.

ANDY DUNN

AS you turn into the home straight of a Premier League title race, what would give you an almighty boost? The return to peak form of one of the greatest footballers of the modern era.

After the international break and his tentative substitute appearances in recent weeks, Mohamed Salah will be fully-fit and firing for the final stretch and that could be THE decisive factor.

It is hard to see any of the three contenders dropping a significant amount of points over their last 10 Premier League fixtures but this is a Liverpool team that has a swagger that suggests they will win all 10.

And that will be enough to send Klopp back to Germany with his second Premier League title.

NEIL MCLEMAN

I RECKONED Manchester City would claim an unprecedented fourth consecutive title at the start of the season. And I stand by that prediction – though not with much conviction.

Pep Guardiola’s men have yet to beat a top-five team in the Premier League this season – or Chelsea – having lost to Arsenal and Aston Villa and drawing twice with Liverpool.

The Easter Sunday showdown with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at the Etihad now also has a big psychological significance for City while they host Villa the following midweek. Tottenham host the champions and current leaders Arsenal in back-toback fixtures in April.

The Gunners have the lead and the momentum while Liverpool are also riding the emotional wave to the end of Jurgen Klopp’s final season. It promises to be close and exciting but I still take City (Erling Haaland celebrating, above) to beat Arsenal and scrape home. Just.

MIKE WALTERS

IT’S a two-horse race with three runners and riders. And you won’t get a better offer than that at the Cheltenham festival this week. Liverpool or Manchester City? Manchester City or Liverpool? We seem to have been having this debate every year since Brexit, and it feels like the Fast and Furious movie franchise – there have been so many instalments we’ve lost count.

This scribbler picked Liverpool (Darwin Nunez celebrating, below) before a ball was kicked, and I’m not going to desert them now. But just suppose that Arsenal went up to the Etihad and turned over City, and the Gunners won at Tottenham in the north London derby… that would make them favourites to be champions for the first time since the Invincibles 20 years ago, wouldn’t it?

DAVID MCDONNELL LIVERPOOL.

Manchester City may be the best team in Europe, but their bid for an unprecedented fourth straight league title looks set to be thwarted.

Pep Guardiola and his players were thankful to escape from Anfield with a point on Sunday, after a second-half onslaught.

At the start of the season I backed City to make it four in a row, simply because they have the best squad and knowhow to win the title, but Liverpool’s sustained push has changed my opinion. Arsenal are in the mix, but will come up short again.

Klopp’s men have the most favourable run-in and it is not unrealistic to see them winning all 10 of their remaining league fixtures to give Klopp the perfect send-off.