Premier League table: How Manchester City can catch Liverpool
Manchester City looked back to their best in the Premier League last weekend as they destroyed Ipswich Town 6-0 at Portman Road. They are still way behind the division's leaders, Liverpool, so it may still be too little too late for Pep Guardiola's side to reclaim the Premier League.
City has won the last four Premier League titles and was the favorite again this season. However, they went on an astonishingly bad run of form at the end of last year — winning just once in nine league games. Guardiola's side is currently fifth in the division, but there is still a lot of soccer to be played between now and the end of the campaign.
Premier League table
TEAM | RECORD (last five games) | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
Liverpool | W-W-D-D-W | 50 |
Arsenal | W-W-D-W-D | 44 |
Nottingham Forest | W-W-W-D-W | 44 |
Chelsea | L-L-D-D-W | 40 |
Man City | D-W-W-D-W | 38 |
Newcastle | W-W-W-W-L | 38 |
Bournemouth | D-D-W-D-W | 37 |
Aston Villa | L-D-W-W-D | 36 |
Brighton | D-D-D-W-W | 34 |
Fulham | W-D-D-L-W | 33 |
Brentford | D-L-W-D-L | 28 |
Crystal Palace | D-W-D-W-W | 27 |
Man United | L-L-D-W-L | 26 |
West Ham | W-L-L-W-L | 26 |
Tottenham | L-D-L-L-L | 24 |
Everton | D-L-L-L-W | 20 |
Wolves | W-D-L-L-L | 16 |
Ipswich | L-W-D-L-L | 16 |
Leicester | L-L-L-L-L | 14 |
Southampton | L-L-L-L-L | 6 |
Time for City to beat the best
City's next seven Premier League games are challenging — all against teams in the top half of the division. Guardiola's side is at home to Chelsea this weekend, followed by a trip to London to face Arsenal. They then have ties at the Etihad Stadium against Newcastle United and Liverpool. City then travels back to the capital to play Tottenham Hotspur before playing Nottingham Forest away and then a home tie against Brighton & Hove Albion.
These fixtures could kill off City's faintest title hopes. However, City goes into them full of confidence after defeating Ipswich so convincingly last time out. Guardiola will need to utilize his whole squad for these games, and this will allow fringe players such as Jack Grealish to impress.
Guardiola also has Champions League fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge to contend with in the coming weeks. However, they do have a break for the FA Cup after their tie with the Gunners. City will be able to rest many of their top players for the fixture against Leyton Orient of League One in that competition.
Liverpool's off-field distractions
Liverpool have been on a surprisingly great run of form since Arne Slot took over from Jurgen Klopp. They have had wobbles against Nottingham Forest, who beat them at Anfield and drew at the City Ground. However, there is sure to be a period where it gets sticky for the Reds between now and the end of the season.
One cause for a blip for Liverpool could be their off-the-field distractions. Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk all have contracts expiring at the end of the season. This distraction will only get worse as the end of the campaign ticks down. Salah has been linked with going to the Saudi Pro League, and there are reports that Alexander-Arnold has already agreed to join Real Madrid.
Klopp's side of last season was on for the quadruple before it all imploded at the end of the campaign. This was partly due to the emotion caused by Klopp's farewell, and Liverpool ended up lifting just the EFL Cup. The Reds are one of the most emotional fanbases in English soccer, and the prospect of losing three of their great players could take its toll on their roster.
Slot's team is also on for the quadruple this season. They have won all their Champions League games so far. They are, of course, top of the Premier League and are still in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. Albeit they are 1-0 down to Tottenham Hotspur on aggregate in the semi-finals of the latter competition.
Other contenders
Arsenal are still title contenders, but recent draws against Brighton and Aston Villa have stumbled their chances of keeping up with Liverpool. They are also missing key forwards Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Jesus through injury. There have always been questions as to whether Kai Havertz can score goals consistently enough to win a Premier League title. However, the transfer window is open, and Mikel Arteta could bring in another striker.
Chelsea moved above City with their win over Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday. However, their manager, Enzo Maresca, has dismissed talk of them winning the Premier League all season. They also have a bloated squad and are still reportedly targeting another forward. This is despite them having a goalkeeper in Robert Sanchez who continues to make mistakes.
Then there is the surprise package Nottingham Forest, who are the only side to have defeated Liverpool in the Premier League this season. They could do a Leicester City and win the division — especially if Chris Wood continues to be their Jamie Vardy by scoring for fun.
Newcastle United are on the same amount of points as Manchester City. However, they lost 4-1 to AFC Bournemouth at home last weekend — this was not a performance that a title-winning side puts in.
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