The Premier League title race has taken on a variety of twists and turns throughout the course of the season so far, and that’s putting it lightly. Two teams, Liverpool and Manchester City, have been waging war in an attempt to be called the Champions of England – and with just a handful of games remaining, there’s still barely anything in it.
Of course, there are certain advantages that one team has over the other, and right now it’d be foolish to suggest that Manchester City aren’t the favourites to walk away as the champions for a second consecutive season. They’ve had one of the truly great Premier League campaigns, and last night against bitter rivals Manchester United, they were able to come away with an absolutely vital three points in their quest for glory.
Eyes on the prize
In a lot of ways that was seen as Liverpool’s best chance, because if City had dropped points, then the fate of the title race would’ve been back in the hands of the Reds. As it is, though, Jurgen Klopp’s men know that they need to win the remainder of their games and hope that City somehow drop points between now and the end of the season. That’s easier said than done, though, especially when you consider the stakes involved.
Those stakes will be on full display tomorrow night as Liverpool prepare to host Huddersfield Town at Anfield. It’s the kind of game that we’ve seen this squad mess up in the past, but this season, it really does feel like they’ve been able to turn a corner as Klopp has built something really special on Merseyside.
The big benefit for the Reds is that Huddersfield have already been relegated back down to the Championship, but you could also argue that means they’ve got nothing to lose. They’re going to come at the home side with everything they’ve got, in an attempt to put some more points on the board. Sure, they’re just playing for pride, but that can be a great motivator at this level.
Ignoring City & Barca
The most important aspect of this game for Liverpool is going to be their need to remain focused. They’ve had a great attention span in the league up to this point, but it’s not exactly a secret that they’ve got a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona to worry about pretty soon.
Some may suggest that they will have one eye on that competition, but even if that’s the case, you’d think they should have enough to overcome the Terriers and keep the pressure on City heading into the weekend.
The majority of bookmakers and fans will consider Liverpool to be the overwhelming favourites which won’t come as much of a surprise, but if they fail to score early, then the Anfield faithful could start to get a little bit restless.
One thing is for sure: you’d be foolish to take your eyes off of this title race, because we all know that there’s room for a lot of crazy stuff to go down in the next few weeks.
