Liverpool And Manchester City Continue With Their Title Race.

The battle for EPL title is still very much alive with the two top contenders Liverpool and Manchester City only separated by 1 point with only 9 more league fixtures remaining. According to some bettors and news from Premier League it will be difficult to predict which team will lift the trophy at the end of the season.

The Manchester City – Liverpool title race has become one of the closest and most entertaining battles in recent years. With their performances, both teams proved they are a class above all other Premier League teams, but when it comes to deciding which of the two is better, there is little to separate them. In other words, there is only 1 point in between the Sky Blues and the Reds. Ultimately, if one team wins the race, one theory suggests it will all come down to their attacking strength. Both have been just spectacular in the defensive end, with Manchester City only conceding 20 goals, while Liverpool holds the league record of only 15 goals conceded in 29 matches. On the other side, Manchester City were far better in the offensive end with 76 goals against Liverpool 64.

The theory of the better-attacking side winning the title does not seem that far from the truth. Liverpool who had a healthy lead in front of their opponents lost it all due to 3 out of their last 5 matches ending in a draw, while Manchester City remained consistent and won 5 in a row since the start of February. It would be hard to justify saying Liverpool are not a strong team, because they are. But their offence has proven to be powerless against Everton, Manchester United and West Ham defence, which is worrying as they get ready for the remaining 9 fixtures.

On the other side, Manchester City had some moments of fragility as well, most notably the matches against West Ham and Bournemouth in the last 2 league fixtures, when they only managed to produce 1 goal. Nonetheless, those two matches still ended in a win and were the 3rd and 4th straight match when City managed to hold a clean sheet. Looking at those four fixtures, Everton only managed to produce 1 shot on goal, Chelsea 4, West Ham 1 and Bournemouth zero. Not only did Manchester City manage to hold Bournemouth at 0 shots on goal, but Bournemouth also had no goal attempts and only 18% ball possession. With impressive results behind them, City are seemingly determined to hold on the lead and wait for yet another mistake from the Reds. Liverpool on the other side must be pulling their hair out after losing a 9 point lead in front of Manchester City, which they held in late December. During the time when Liverpool lost 1 match, Manchester City lost 4, but it was the draws that made the Reds lose their hard-earned advantage. I have expressed it before and I’ll do it again; I am a bit concerned if Liverpool offence is strong enough to avoid further draws and start producing 3 point matches. Despite all that, I believe Liverpool does have a better schedule in front of them, which just might prove to be a huge advantage.

While I believe Manchester City are a stronger team, they will have a harder league finish compare to Liverpool, which just might see the Sky Blues slip and fall. Liverpool will have to face Burnley (H), Fulham (A), Tottenham (H), Southampton (A), Chelsea (H), Cardiff (A), Huddersfield (H), Newcastle (A) and Wolves (H) as their next 9 opponents. On the other side, Manchester City will have to face off against Watford (H), Fulham (A), Cardiff (H), Crystal Palace (A), Tottenham (H), Manchester United (A), Burnley (A), Leicester (H) and Brighton (A) in addition to still having the FA Cup competitions to attend. At first glance the schedules seem fairly equal, however, Liverpool will play their 2 toughest matches at home, while City will need to visit United straight after what is expected to be a hard match against Tottenham. I believe that even though Manchester City has a point advantage as well as better goal difference, Liverpool has easier fixtures ahead of them. Weighting those 2 advantages, we once again get to ground zero. It’s going to be a close one, but if I had to give one team a slight advantage, it would be Liverpool. That is only if they can “wake up” and start producing more wins rather than drawing games which they should have won.