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A huge Pendulum swing in Premier League title race saw Liverpool go eight points clear of Champions City this weekend. A surprise considering the league is only eight games into the season.
The current situation was characterized by Liverpool’s last-gasp win at home to Leicester whilst Manchester City were dealt a shock home loss to Wolves.
City’s vulnerability in defence is being exploited as failure to replace Vincent Kompany over the summer coupled with Aymeric Laporte’s injury has not been remedied by the current defenders.
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| Raúl Jiménez getting past Nicolás Otamendi. (Getty) |
Nicolás Otamendi and John Stones put on a horror show in the 3-1 loss to Norwich and Otamendi hasn’t stepped up to become the defensive leader since; making a host of errors in a horror show versus Raúl Jiménez against Wolves.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have not set the world alight in half of their performances this season but secured maximum points in every game.
A certain tough spell against Norwich, narrowly beating Chelsea, Dean Henderson’s goalkeeping howler at Sheffield and now conceding a late equaliser then getting a last-gasp penalty against Leicester. This is not vintage Liverpool under Klopp but they are just about getting the job done.
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| James Milner showed nerves of steel to tuck in the late winner against Leicester. |
This unexpected title advantage presents Jürgen Klopp with the task of ensuring Liverpool have learnt their lessons from last season, where they lost a seven-point gap after 20 games. With 30 games to go including two against City, Liverpool and Klopp are not getting carried away.
Three points is the minimum requirement in a race against City, and Klopp’s men are very familiar with falling short.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are so far meeting the standard set by Guardiola’s City, one win from equalling their 18-game winning record.
16 points from eight games presents City’s worst start to the season in six years. Shambolic for a team chasing a first third successive title since 2009.
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| City have failed to score for the first time in 61 home league games under Guardiola. (Getty) |
Pep Guardiola says he isn’t thinking about Liverpool but he must hope that they crumble under the anxiety of being so ahead so early. What Liverpool do have, however, is a cushion for when their winning run does end, because it will in this unforgiving Premier League.
Klopp needs to keep his key men fit. Shorn of a world class squad such as City’s, he is getting adequate results out of his charges.
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| Liverpool are showing a steely determination to win. (Getty) |
There will be many twists and turns along the way, but with every opponent motivated against City’s porous defence and Liverpool unable to lose so far, this might be a decisive moment in the title race.
The words of Guardiola in his book: ‘League titles are won in the last eight games but are lost in the first eight’ might just be proven for all the world to see.
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Tags: Liverpool ,Manchester City ,Premier League
