LEADERS MAN CITY GOING FOR THE KILL
No stopping frontrunners, who have comfortable eight-point lead
MANCHESTER City will bid to hammer home their advantage at the top of the Premier League against Southampton, while Manchester United head to Watford hoping to cling onto the leaders’ coat-tails in a crucial midweek programme.
City underlined their determination to win the title with a gutsy 2-1 victory at Huddersfield on Sunday as Pep Guardiola’s side reestablished an eight-point lead over second-placed United.
Their Manchester rivals had closed the gap to five points with a 1-0 win against Brighton on Saturday and, with City trailing to a Nicolas Otamendi own goal at half time against Huddersfield, Jose Mourinho’s men were dreaming of a title lifeline.
But City crushed those hopes in gritty fashion as Sergio Aguero’s penalty two minutes after the interval eased any nerves from the leaders, who piled on the pressure and were rewarded with six minutes left when Raheem Sterling netted the winner.
City have now won their last 11 Premier League matches and 18 in all competitions.
United can again move to within five points of their hated neighbours if they win at Watford today, before City return to action at home to Southampton 24 hours later.
Guardiola admits City’s scintillating run will end eventually, but he believes the way his team saw off fired-up Huddersfield should serve as a warning to their rivals that they are fully focused on the title.
“If you want to win the title you cannot expect easy games, so we have to live these kinds of situations,” he said.
“We are going to lose. That is going to happen – definitely. Today was so close – it’s going to happen.
“When you play every few days, when you see the scheduling, it’s impossible. But we have a good momentum and with the spirit we can go further.”
United have no margin for error at Vicarage Road, where Watford will aim for a repeat of last season’s shock 3-1 win over Mourinho’s team.
While Watford impressed in a 3-0 win at Newcastle on Saturday, United laboured to see off Brighton at Old Trafford until Lewis Dunk’s own goal from an Ashley Young effort sealed their second successive league win.
United defender Victor Lindelof hopes his side can continue to grind out the wins while they search for their peak form.
“We tried to do our best out there, we tried to play our game but it didn’t work out so good,” he said. “We got the three points and that is the most important thing.”
Champions Chelsea are lagging 11 points behind City in third place and must beat lowly Swansea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow to have any chance of catching the leaders.
Key to their title defence is Eden Hazard’s ability to maintain the fine form he showed in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool.
After an injury-hit start to the season, the Belgian excelled against Liverpool in the number 10 role behind Alvaro Morata.
“The start of this season was full of trouble with Eden because he had an injury,” Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said. “Now I think he is in really good form.” – AFP
If you want to win the title you cannot expect easy games