Liverpool feeling the heat from City
Win over Bournemouth can steady ship for Klopp’s side
Manchester – As Manchester City fans left Goodison Park after a 2-0 victory over Everton on Wednesday that sent their team back to the top of the Premier League, they aimed their chants across adjacent Stanley Park to title rivals Liverpool.
The taunt of “Jurgen’s cracking up” directed at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was perhaps a reference to the slightly tetchy television interviews the German had given after his team’s 1-1 draw at West Ham United on Monday.
It was, of course, banter of the kind football fans love to engage in but the feeling that Liverpool are nervously feeling the pressure of the title race is growing widely.
Liverpool have not won the domestic league title for 29 years, a period that has included a lengthy spell of domination by their bitterest rivals Manchester United.
That run should have ended in 2014 when Brendan Rodgers’s team featuring Uruguayan marksman Luis Suarez in attack found themselves five points clear with three games remaining.
But defeat at home by Chelsea and a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace saw Manchester City, who won their last five games, grab the title on the final day.
Now with City above Liverpool for the first time since December 8, the pressure is firmly on Klopp’s team, who host Bournemouth at Anfield tomorrow.
Liverpool have not gone two home ma tches without a win since December 2017 and have only ever lost once to the Cherries – a 4-3 defeat in Bournemouth in 2016.
City get a chance to respond to whatever happens at Anfield when they face Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea on Sunday, a match their manager Pep Guardiola describes as an “incredible test”.
Third-placed Tottenham are only five points behind the leaders and are coping well with the absence of captain Harry Kane, having won the last three league games without him.
Spurs host Leicester, without a win in their last five Premier League games, on Sunday.
Fixtures (5pm unless stated) Tomorrow: Fulham v Man United, 2.30pm; Liverpool v Bournemouth; Crystal Palace v West Ham; Huddersfield v Arsenal; Southampton v Cardiff; Watford v Everton; Brighton v Burnley, 7.30pm Sunday: Tottenham v Leicester; Man City v Chelsea, 6pm
Liverpool have not won the domestic league title for 29 years