Liverpool’s draw at Man City hints at title race on horizon

MANCHESTER – So who wants to win the Premier League title this season? Or more precisely, who thinks they can win? Manchester City may still be favorites to become champions again after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool, but their rivals are starting to coalesce in Pep Guardiola’s team.

City certainly know how to win the title; they are aiming to become the first English club to do so four seasons in a row. But Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are within touching distance of top spot and the opportunity to finish the campaign as champions is starting to present itself for all of them.

We have become accustomed to City heading towards the Premier League title. Guardiola’s side have won five of the last six games, with only Liverpool denying them six in a row by winning it in 2020, but this season promises to be the most competitive race for the English title in years.

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At the end of this meeting at the Etihad Stadium, four points separated the five best teams in the Premier League. In Spain and France, that gap was 10 points, while in Italy and Germany it was 11. In recent seasons, City have eventually emerged, but results suggest it could be different this time.

Arsenal have beaten City this season, Chelsea held them to a draw in a wild 4-4 epic two weeks ago and now Liverpool have come out unbeaten against Guardiola’s side. As Tottenham next travel to the Etihad on December 3, another failure to overcome another big hitter will give them every confidence that City could drop enough points for another team to take advantage.

We’re now just waiting for this team to emerge – the best of the rest, or for the club to have prepared themselves to be ambitious enough in January to make the signing that could transform them from challengers to champions.

Liverpool are arguably the team most likely to beat City for the title. After all, they did what had become almost impossible by getting something from the Etihad. Had City held on, they would have equaled Sunderland’s record of 24 consecutive home wins in all competitions – a record dating back to 1894.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 80th-minute equalizer secured Liverpool a deserved point after Erling Haaland became the fastest player to 50 Premier League goals by putting City ahead in the 27th minute in his 48th appearance in the competition. Haaland obliterated Andy Cole (65 games, Newcastle 1993-94) to win his last record. Neither team did enough to win the game, but there was equal importance in City failing to secure victory and Liverpool’s ability to hold them off after Haaland’s goal.

If City continue to fail to beat their closest rivals, they will allow the chasing pack to keep pace. Tottenham and Aston Villa are City’s next two league opponents and both are capable of adding to Guardiola’s frustrations by achieving positive results. On the other hand, Liverpool’s success in ending City’s victory at home will fuel the belief at Anfield that Klopp and his team can repeat their 2019-20 title win this season. But despite taking a point, Klopp said his team played within themselves and could have won if they had performed better.

“If we had played very well today we could have won, but we didn’t,” Klopp said. “We played well. We also caused them some problems, but our good moments didn’t look very good to us.

“We had to stretch again [in the second half]but I said to the boys at half time, imagine what it would be like if we played well.

“But it’s a really difficult place to get to and it’s no coincidence that they’ve won I don’t know how many times at home. They’re a great team.”

While his side finished the match retaining top spot in the table – Arsenal had the chance to dislodge City with a win at Brentford in Saturday’s final game – Guardiola said there were positives in the performance and results of his team.

“It was a great performance,” he said. “I’m really proud that after eight years we were still playing this way. We were really good in all areas and we had to face an incredible team.

“Maybe we missed the last pass a bit, but they defended very well. To only concede two shots on target against Liverpool is a big compliment for the way we work.”

Guardiola expressed no concerns about his side’s title hopes, but for the first time this season City were noticeably missing Kevin De Bruyne, whose hamstring injury has sidelined him since the weekend -opening end in August. Without De Bruyne’s ability to move from box to box and deliver long-range passes, City’s midfield lacked penetration and energy. The Belgium international will be out until the New Year, so his absence could further harm them in upcoming matches. Liverpool’s midfield, who has been impressive this season, did not show the dynamism or ambition needed to take advantage of City’s deficiencies, so the match ended with both teams happy with a point and happy not to lose.

It was a good result for Liverpool, but even better for the title race, as if any of the contenders are able to achieve title-winning form, City’s shortcomings against the top teams could well pave the way for the awarding of different ribbons. the Premier League trophy next May.