There were 11 points that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City brought to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool a couple of months ago. Now, after the great triumph of Anfield against Arsenal at the Emirates by 0-2 last Wednesday, only one separates the leader and the 2nd in the Premier. As Pep Guardiola said, now ‘citizens’ and ‘reds’ have 9 finals ahead of them. And with April 10, when City-Liverpool is played, on the horizon.
This weekend there is a truce: both City and Liverpool play the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Guardiola’s men visit Southampton this Sunday (4:00 p.m.), while Klopp’s men do the same with Nottingham Forest, now in Second ( 19.00). Before, this Friday, City and Liverpool will know who their rivals will be in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Returning to the Premier, City’s schedule is more affordable in these 9 ‘finals’ than Liverpool’s. Not surprisingly, no Big Six crosses the path of Guardiola’s men except Liverpool. City’s rivals from here to the end of the Premier are: Brighton, the ‘reds’, Watford, Newcastle at home; Burnley, Wolves, Leeds and West Ham out.
What remains to City and Liverpool
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s opponents in the last 9 days of the Premier will be: Manchester United, Watford, Everton, Tottenham and Wolves at home; City, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Southampton out. Two Big Six, United and Tottenham are among those rivals and also nothing less than the eternal citizen rival, Everton.
In this comeback in the standings, Tottenham, Southampton and Crystal Palace have been allies of Liverpool, which for its part has 9 consecutive wins in the Premier. The Spurs beat City in London (1-0) and in Manchester (2-3). The ‘Saints’ added two separate draws against Guardiola’s (0-0 and 1-1). And the ‘Eagles’ beat City at the Etihad (0-2) and tied at Selhurst Park (0-0).
read also
Guardiola already made his calculations in February and said that “to win this Premier we will have to achieve 95 or 96 points”. At the moment, City is 70 and Liverpool is 69. Always with April 10 on the horizon. And what some suspect is that, apart from their pulse for the Premier (as in 2018-19, when Pep’s team took it by a single point more than Klopp’s), they may also end up meeting in the Champions League or in the FA Cup.