Liverpudlians’ wish for 2019
AS THE clock struck midnight and we turned over our calendars to 2019, Liverpool fans around the world would have been jotting down that one resolution for the New Year – stay at the top of the league, and win the Premier League for the first time.
The Merseyside team may have won 18 league titles but none of those are the contemporary Premier League, founded in 1992. Only Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Leicester City, Man City and Man United have won the English Premier League as we know it. But it has eluded Liverpool all these years. They did come pretty close some years ago, but a Steven Gerrard slip literally meant they’d slipped up in their challenge for the title.
It seems different this year though. There is a swagger about the Reds that only champions demonstrate and even though they did start 2019 with a loss to Manchester City, they’re still firmly in the driving seat, four points ahead of the current champions and both on the same goal difference. It would be ideal for the battle to go down to the wire just like when Sergio Agüero broke Man U hearts to win Man City their first title in 2012, only by a superior goal difference.
Jurgen Klopp will need to pick up the pieces of their first league loss this season when they travel to Brighton and Hove Albion, not the easiest place to win.
It shouldn’t be much trouble for them provided they also quickly forget about their shock 2-1 FA Cup loss to Wolves.
Manchester City will be buzzing from that 2-1 win over the leaders, but will need to maintain that standard of football when they entertain Wolves at the Etihad on Monday night. The visitors are no pushovers and they demonstrated that when they came from behind to defeat Tottenham 3-1, so City will do well to be wary of Nuno Espírito Santo’s men.
On that note of Tottenham, it seems that the move to the new stadium may now only happen in March. Mauricio Pochettino’s men are the closest to Liverpool in terms of form, but they have a stern test in the form of Manchester United on Sunday.
United have got their groove back and are showing signs of a revival under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, winning all their matches since he’s taken over. He’s got players like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku hitting their straps, something we haven’t seen under the tutelage of José Mourinho.
Spurs have only ever beaten United nine times in the league, but do look likely to add to that number at Wembley this weekend. The fight for fourth place is in the heart of London, with Chelsea and Arsenal set to slug it out for the final Champions League position. The Gunners sit three points behind their London rivals and will be kicking themselves for another indifferent festive season.
Losses to Southampton and Liverpool as well as a draw at Brighton meant them losing grip on the Top 5 spot and falling behind those higher on the table. There have been reports of personality clashes between Unai Emery and midfielder Mesut Ozil, with the German being totally left out of match-day squads in December. They will kick off the game week at lunch time in another London derby at West Ham, which will prove tricky.
Chelsea will be in late action on Saturday when they welcome Newcastle United to Stamford Bridge. It shouldn’t prove too much of a problem for the Blues as the Magpies are going through a tough time in the boardroom, with owner Mike Ashley looking to sell the club this month.
With 17 matches to go, the Premier League is about to get far more interesting.