Alan Shearer has offered a fresh verdict on the Premier League title race after Manchester City’s comprehensive defeat on Saturday.
The champions sunk to a third top-flight loss in a row as they were thrashed 0-4 at home by Tottenham last night, and a win for leaders Liverpool at bottom club Southampton today would open an eight-point gap between the top two ahead of their head-to-head clash at Anfield next Sunday.
Pep Guardiola admitted after his team’s hammering by Spurs that an 11-point gap to the Reds in early December would be extremely difficult to reel in, and the division’s all-time leading goalscorer has voiced a similar sentiment.
Speaking on Match of the Day on BBC Sport, Shearer said: “Liverpool away is a massive game next weekend for Man City. For the first time I would have real concerns over them. I am seeing too many worrying signs. If Liverpool win on Sunday and next week, I think Man City would find it really tough.”
Many Reds fans might still be apprehensive about the possibility of surging ahead in the title race due to City’s recent penchant for hitting an imperious run of form in the second half of the season.
However, the manner in which they were ripped apart by Tottenham was most unlike what we’ve seen from Guardiola’s team over the past decade, and it’s evident that the loss of Rodri to long-term injury has had a destabilising effect on them similar to us and Virgil van Dijk in 2020/21.
If Liverpool can win their next two games and move 11 points clear of the champions, it wouldn’t be an unassaible lead but it’d leave us in a commanding position to withstand a couple of inevitable setbacks and still be in control of our destiny in the title race.
The upcoming fixtures against Southampton and City represent a hugely inviting opportunity to seize a firm grip on pole position and land an enormous psychological blow on our nearest challengers. The onus is now in Slot’s team to take full advantage of their rivals’ uncharacteristic malaise.
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