City vs Liverpool – the week that could decide the title race
THIS international break pause for breath.
When the Premier League resumes on Saturday, Liverpool have just seven league games left to play. Manchester City have eight.
Liverpool have a two-point advantage but the game in hand held by City means that they are in control of their own destiny.
At this point, those of a nervous disposition are advised to look away now. That’s most of us Liverpool fans.
We’ve reached the period in the season that Sir Alex Ferguson famously referred to as “squeaky bum time”.
Fans with their posteriors on the seats at Anfield (as well as those watching from behind fingers and sofas) are likely to understand the meaning of that phrase in the next few weeks.
If the recent victory over Fulham is anything to go by, then Liverpool are unlikely to do it the easy way.
Finishing above this City side is an incredibly difficult task and the Reds deserve great credit for being in this position approaching the end of March.
Speaking of difficult tasks, Liverpool’s next game is against Spurs. Granted it’s at home but it’s a massive game for both teams, especially with Spurs having been dragged into the thick of the battle for a top-four place.
A win in this fixture – the toughest one that Liverpool have left on paper – would be a massive, massive boost.
Juergen Klopp’s men are likely to kick off that game in second place as City face Fulham away the day before.
Spurs will be the club that have the biggest influence on the title race outside of the two protagonists.
City face Spurs in the league on April 20, just after playing the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against them.
With a comparatively easier Champions League draw against Porto, Liverpool will hope that the all-English clash between City and Spurs will exact a heavy toll on their title rivals.
For City, the Champions League will be the priority but their squad have enough depth to make talk of an unprecedented quadruple not sound absurd.
Another ray of hope for Liverpool fans is that after playing Spurs, City then go to Old Trafford for the Manchester derby.
That week at the end of April looks as though it could be the defining one of the campaign. For Liverpool, it’s one in which they face Cardiff and Huddersfield.
The key for Liverpool is staying right in contention to that point. Before then they meet Chelsea as well as Spurs, so their really big tests come a bit earlier than City’s.
Liverpool vs Chelsea at Anfield as the former bid for the title is sure to bring back nightmarish memories for Liverpool fans.
Their team can afford few slip-ups now.
It is clear that City won’t drop a lot of points between now and the end of the season. They might lose one and draw one. In such a scenario, they’d finish on 93 points.
Liverpool would need to win six of their remaining seven games to reach 94 points.
That’s how tough a task the Anfield club likely face to finally end their title drought. Whoever wins it, this title is going to be very hard won.
From the start of the season I’ve made City favourites and that’s still the case.
But as I look at the remaining games I see a real chance for Liverpool.
The next few weeks will create heroes and villains. We’ll all be on the edge of our seats. It’s going to be breathless, brilliant and agonising.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.