Ready to rumble

 

Title decider? Or another twist in the tale?

Given the hype, you’d think the English Premier League trophy was being presented at the Etihad on Sunday night.

Yes, Manchester City vs Liverpool is a genuine heavyweight contest with both sides more than ready to rumble.

Yes, a win would be massively advantageous to either. But it’s not the end: neither of elaborate plans nor everything that stands, to borrow from The Doors.

Says Jurgen Klopp: “If we win against City, which is difficult enough, nobody will think ‘That’s decided’ because of the quality of the opponent.”

Nor because there will still be seven more league games to go.

Not to mention FA Cup and Champions League encounters which could still impact the title race.

And some of those EPL matches are against teams fighting for European places or against relegation.

Even those already on the beach will not lie down. None will want to be accused of giving a free pass: the sun tan can wait.

Both Reds and Blues have four home games and three away with City having the easier programme.

They are still to visit Wolves, relegation-threatened Leeds and Newcastle who may be already safe by then.

Liverpool go to Aston Villa, Newcastle and Southampton.

If there’s little to choose between their respective travels, City’s home fixtures look more straightforward.

They welcome slumping Brighton, Watford, who may be relegated by then, and Newcastle.

Only Aston Villa – if the title is still at stake on the final day – are likely to trouble them as manager Steven Gerrard would be hellbent on denying City to help his beloved Liverpool.

The Kop may disagree that Anfield is ever difficult for the Reds, but their remaining games there are against opponents with an awful lot to play for.

Yes, even Manchester United.

Struggling, hapless, virtually managerless United will want to avenge that early season humiliation. Or, at least their fans will.

Neighbours Everton will be fighting for their lives and the derby is always feisty, while reviving Spurs could be battling for a top four slot.

Even Wolves will have European qualification on their minds.

All that said, victory on Sunday could deal a potentially telling psychological blow.

With City already one point ahead, a home win would mean the Blues have to drop points in two more matches while Liverpool would have to be 100% in all of theirs to become champions.

Goal difference could even come into it and here Liverpool have the edge, being five better off.

But with so little to choose between the teams, who are head and shoulders above the rest of the league, it’s likely to be a close affair with even the victors unable to claim a ‘knockout’ blow.

The boost would come from the points, the advantage of which they would cling to for dear life.

Conversely, defeat may not be the disaster that’s being portrayed. Indeed, it may galvanise the losers into redoubling their efforts.

And the winner might become a touch complacent.

Klopp and Pep Guardiola will do everything to guard against it, but it’s a very human trait, especially as the pressure builds at the climax of the season.

Both have always maintained that it only takes a moment – for a slip to be decisive.

Ibrahima Konate made one against Benfica but it was cancelled out by Luis Diaz’s goal.

Alisson got away with a ‘moment’ of unnecessary elaboration. Virgil van Dijk was spared by VAR for a possible penalty.

Besides the big game itself, the biggest impact on the run-in is likely to come from the other competitions with the possibility of the pair locking horns in all three.

In the red corner, Liverpool are bidding for an unprecedented Quadruple; in the blue corner, City are confining themselves to a Treble.

And both outrageous ambitions will still be on regardless of Sunday’s result.

But with games coming thick and fast, by the middle of next week that may no longer be the case.

If this week’s Champions League quarter-finals can be considered warm-ups for Sunday’s ‘title bout’, City had the far more rigorous test.

As Benfica were like a respectful sparring partner, not landing a glove on the Reds until the second half, Atletico Madrid went for their usual mugging.

Hard, dirty, full of low blows, the anti-football specialists gave City more than they bargained for and will fancy they can overturn a one goal deficit at home.

City suffered no serious injuries but certainly had the tougher week with the knowledge there’s more – and perhaps worse – to come.

How this will affect the EPL game is anyone’s guess.

How the EPL game will affect the return legs and, in turn, how they will affect the FA Cup semi-final between the two the following weekend is also open to conjecture.

It’s a fixture logjam where one injury to a crucial player could be decisive. Or one moment of madness.

The likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Mo Salah should be wrapped in cotton wool but were both out there battling till late on.

Guardiola lost his cool on Tuesday and was lucky not to get a card. He should be careful not to go from overthinking to the unthinkable.

Klopp has rotated a reassuringly deep squad but admits that Salah, for whom the goals have dried up and a big penalty has been missed (for Egypt), is going through ‘a tough period’.

He is sure to start on Sunday though as will Phil Foden, mysteriously left on the bench for more than an hour, for City.

Big players love big games and Sunday is one of the EPL’s biggest ever.

Liverpool have yet to win away at City under Klopp; you feel he now has the depth of squad to change that. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.