The Premier League title race is continuing to captivate as Liverpool and Manchester City battle it out for the crown.
Last weekend, Liverpool came from behind to secure a 3-1 win at Southampton to and go two points clear at the top of the table as Manchester City were in FA Cup action – beating Brighton 1-0 in the semi-finals.
5
Mohamed Salah ended his nine-game goal drought to help Liverpool win
It’s a race that will probably not be over until the final day on May 12 as both sides do not show signs of dropping many points.
However, this Sunday may well be the day where the race for the title reaches its most important point and here’s why.
Both sides play on the same afternoon with City facing a tricky test against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park – a game you can listen to live on talkSPORT, kick-off 2:05pm.
LIVE ON talkSPORT
talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2...
- Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT
Meanwhile Liverpool take on Chelsea, who are chasing a Champions League spot, at Anfield, kick-off 4:30pm.
In fact, when City and Liverpool were last against each other for the title in the 2013/14 season, the pendulum swung back in the Citizens’ favour when the Reds were beaten 2-0 at home to Chelsea on April 27, the game where the infamous ‘Gerrard slip’ let Demba Ba in to give the Blues the lead.
5
Gerrard has been hugely ridiculed for the catastrophic mistake
City then travelled to an in-form Palace and got the job done with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure.
And Manuel Pellegrini’s City side never looked back as they went on to win their second Premier League crown.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s next fixture saw them blow a 3-0 lead at Palace to draw 3-3 and Kopite hearts were broken.
But Sunday is not pivotal in determining where the trophy is headed for only symbolic reasons.
LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS
Pep Guardiola’s men are in the midst of a very busy and difficult run of fixtures and their last game saw them lose 1-0 at Tottenham in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
It ended a run of 14 straight wins in all competitions for City and their Premier League credentials will be under huge scrutiny ahead of what will be an uncomfortable trip to Selhurst Park.
5
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Meanwhile, a more fresh Liverpool are on top and have two less games than City in April and also had a relatively easy win over Porto in their Champions League match on Tuesday.
If City lose to Palace and Liverpool can get past Chelsea then that swings the race back in the Reds’ favour as they will have a five-point lead or a four-point lead if it’s a draw between the Citizens and Eagles, with Liverpool having played one more game.
However, if Liverpool fail to beat Chelsea and City beat Palace then Guardiola’s men are very much in the driving seat as they will be top of the table AND will have a game in hand on Klopp’s men.
Liverpool have an easier run-in after that but if they’re not on top by the end of play on Sunday, any more drop points will effectively end their title push.
Liverpool's PL run-in after Sunday
Cardiff vs Liverpool (Sunday April 21)
Liverpool vs Huddersfield (Friday April 26)
Newcastle vs Liverpool (Sunday May 5)
Liverpool vs Wolves (Sunday May 12)
Manchester City's PL run-in after Sunday
Manchester City vs Tottenham (Saturday April 20)
Manchester United vs Manchester City (Wednesday April 24)
Burnley vs Manchester City (Sunday April 28)
Manchester City vs Leicester City (Saturday May 4)
Brighton vs Manchester City (Sunday May 12)
But City have an endurance test with their must-win second leg against Spurs on Wednesday before hosting Mauricio Pochettino’s men in the league three days later.
City then have to go to Old Trafford four days after that and ideally get a win against local rivals Manchester United, who are fighting to finish in the Champions League spots.
5
Liverpool could take advantage of City’s congested fixture list
However, this isn’t City’s first rodeo and they have more experience in this situation, even if their last league title was more a coronation to victory than an actual fight for the Premier League.
It’s not clear who will win the Premier League but Sunday April 14 could just be the day when it becomes clear who comes out on top at the end.
5
The race is currently in City’s hands and they have experience at winning league titles
Manchester United: How could Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team could look next season with transfer targets, including Kieran Trippier, Nicolas Pepe, and Joao Felix Monday, 22 April 2019 The wheels have well and truly come off for Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sends warning to his Manchester United
Man City star Kevin de Bruyne expected to miss key Old Trafford derby clash, Pep Guardiola confirms James Robson at Phil Foden scored his first Premier League goal after five minutes - and
Kevin De Bruyne: Manchester City star 'ruled out of Premier
Manchester United transfer news: Rio Ferdinand 'recommends' Norwich starlet Ben Godfrey to Old Trafford chiefs by: 161385360554578 — Talk Sport 5 May Manchester United want to sign Norwich starlet Ben Godfrey, according to reports.
Man Utd news: Rio Ferdinand recommends United sign Ben
What Manchester United fans can learn from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's chaotic and confused Cardiff City reign. Solskjaer is back in management and plans to be a bigger hit with Man Utd than he was
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked by Cardiff City after enduring
Gareth Bale transfer news: Manchester United favourites to sign Real Madrid star as top European clubs lurk. The future of Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale is set to be one of the biggest
Gareth Bale transfer news: Manchester United favourites to
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona: Dejan Lovren posts wild Instagram live video which shows naked team-mate The Croatian centre-back took us behind the scenes in the Reds changing room and almost showed us
Liverpool, Dejan Lovren posts wild Instagram live video which
Tottenham transfer news: Lo Celso could offer more to Spurs than Real Madrid target Christian Eriksen fpnews June 5, 2019 0 Tottenham target Giovani Lo Celso is the perfect replacement for Christian Eriksen and could even be an upgrade on the Danish star, talkSPORT has been told.
Tottenham transfer news: Lo Celso could offer more to Spurs
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 'No issues whatsoever' to prevent Arsenal star from travelling to Baku for Europa League final, insists Azerbaijan official There are 'no issues whatsoever' to prevent Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan from travelling talkSPORT - Published 1 week ago
Henrikh Mkhitaryan backs Arsenal to win Europa League - newsR
Club World Cup 2019: Champions League winners Liverpool to discover location of tournament and could feature in new 24-team version - talkSPORT Liverpool may have won the Champions League, but there was confusion about whether they will take part in the FIFA Club World Cup this year.
FIFA Club World Cup - Wikipedia
How Juventus could line up next season by beating Manchester
Porto 1-4 (agg 1-6) Liverpool: Reds to face Barcelona in Champions League semi-finals following easy win in Portugal The Reds broke the deadlock against the run of play through Mane before Salah
~ Porto 1-4 (agg 1-6) Liverpool: Reds to face Barcelona in
Manchester United are reportedly in talks to sign Roma central defender Kostas Manolas and are 'ready to pay' his buyout clause, according to reports in Italy. The Red Devils have long sought
Man Utd will pay Kostas Manolas transfer clause this summer
No comments:
Post a Comment