“Liverpool” is waiting on the lips. Luck fell to them. The Premier League leaders face Manchester City in free fall this weekend with the chance to end their rivals’ title defense for good.Christmas has certainly come early.
Sunday will be as much about Manchester City’s loss if they lose as Liverpool’s likely pursuit this season, but as the old saying goes: “You can only play what’s in front of you.”
And what awaits Liverpool at Anfield is a shell, can hardly disarm Feyenoord.Fourth-placed in the Eredivisie, not to mention the Premier League leaders, Manchester City appear to have been stripped of their powers, while Liverpool are making tactical inroads on their own.
Sunday, December 1 at 3:30 p.m
Start: 16:00
This match, at this particular point in the season, has rarely, if ever, been more favourable.
How often do you get a chance to hit City when they’re down?They’re on a six-game winless run, including five defeats, and if Liverpool take advantage as many expect, the title race is surely over. The view is as polarizing as it has been for years.
“Liverpool” performed excellently and have every chance to win this title,” Roy Keane said last weekend. “If they play at their best with the fans behind them and beat City, what a statement it will make for City if they lose.”
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Paul Merson says Manchester City’s clash with Liverpool at Anfield is a “must-lose” game and believes Pep Guardiola’s side will not be able to catch the Reds if they don’t get the three points on Sunday.
Paul Merson’s view. “The Premier League needs Manchester City to win on Sunday because otherwise Liverpool are going to run away with the title very soon,” Opta rates Liverpool’s chances of winning the trophy in May is 74.8 percent.
And yet, they have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Manchester City.This fixture has not been a happy hunting ground in recent times, you need to go back to October 2022 to find the last positive result. Mohamed Salah predictably scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win.
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All 11 of Mohamed Salah’s goals and assists against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Premier League.
Few would be surprised if the winner of the same game emerged again this time. As well as having the most goals and assists in the Premier League this season (16), Salah’s involvement has also cost Liverpool a club-high 17 points this season.
Putting the final nail in Man City’s coffin could be the sweetener for the Egyptian to lobby for a new and improved deal, more on that later.
The positives are many. Only once (Manchester United in 1993/94) have a greater lead than Liverpool now have after 12 games or exceeded only 10 times. eight of those clubs have gone on to win the title.
It’s hard to imagine a world where Slot would allow complacency, even if such a significant eight-point margin could reach 11. This is not a manager who ignores the basics. He knows he won nothing this side of Christmas, though hope in the case of “Manchester City” may be lost altogether.
Liverpool’s defensive prowess has been a hallmark of early season success
Pragmatic Slot will have a plan for Sunday and there will be little on the mind that the Merseyside visitors will simply turn around.A character like Slot senses the opportunity, but also the risk.
He will want to win the draft because teams who leave everything to chance, as unlucky and skilful as they were against Manchester City, are punished.
Back in 2022, when Salah settled a fiery and intense match at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp was sent off, it was Alisson who carved out the opener with a free kick downfield. What Salah did with that long shot was nothing short of sensational, but this was a game of broken character and great edges Alisson’s quick thinking or Joao Cancelo’s inability to defend, the game could very easily have ended 0-0.
This time, Slot will want control and calm heads. Liverpool are capable of demanding such standards. They are capable of running this fragile Manchester City at both ends of the pitch, as they have been scolding. Champions League winners Real Madrid on Wednesday night Perfect for a stay in Europe.
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Sky Sports’ Adam Bate and Vinny O’Connor reflect on Liverpool’s dominant Champions League win over Real Madrid.
Another test passed.
They say that to be the best, you have to beat the best. Midfielder of “Real” and the England team Jude Bellingham called Liverpool “the best team in Europe”. Right now. He’s probably right. There’s a terrific mix of star power and firepower up top, a neat and tidy midfield engine that can work, and a solid backline that rarely concedes goals the day even denied Kylian Mbappe from the penalty spot.
Everything that can go right does.
Perhaps the only lingering uncertainty concerns the developed gameplay Snog, marry, avoid “Liverpool” plays with its three best players. With Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah all out of contract this summer, talks over future deals no longer appear to be forwards and the club can only afford to keep two of the three.Slott will hope none of his prized trio lost, but ultimately the negotiations will be out of his hands.
However, his impact on the performance of this Liverpool team has been felt on the pitch. Their only defeat in the Premier League this season was a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, who have won seven of their eight games since then, scoring at least two goals in all but one. Momentum is building. A fuse has blown.
And now comes the biggest announcement of all.Following up the reigning European champions with a six-time (under Pep) Premier League win, all in four days, is worth cherishing.
Liverpool have their chance, they just have to take it.
