Paul Merson further reckons in a two-horse title race, the team that plays the first match in a weekend holds the edge over their rival.
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The Premier League season resumes from international break with a blockbuster contest on Saturday when Manchester City welcome Liverpool to Etihad Stadium. For both clubs, this is a massive game due to various reasons. Sitting second in the Premier League table, Man City need the win to stay in the title race with Arsenal. On the other hand, Liverpool would require nothing less than three points to get their fading top four dreams back on track. With a lot riding on this game, both sets of supporters can expect to witness an intriguing game on Saturday.
Former Arsenal player and popular pundit Paul Merson believes this game is a crucial one for both clubs. In his skysports.com column, Merson said, “This is a cup final for Manchester City. They have to win this game. A win and the gap is five points again and the pressure is back on Arsenal, who have some tricky games still to play. A draw for City and an Arsenal win against Leeds on Saturday would take the gap to 10 points and that is too far. That is a gap where you well and truly start to think it might be over.”
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Paul Merson believes it is a tough game for both clubs to have right after the international break. With very little time to prepare for a match of this magnitude, it would be interesting to see which players are fit to start for both sides. “It’s a nightmare game for both Man City and Liverpool to have so soon after the international break,” he added.
“It’s a huge game and it does work the same way for both teams. Both managers don’t have the time they would like to work on things ahead of the game and you also have to wait for the players to get back to see who may or may not be fit. It’s not ideal and it may be that whoever copes with the disruption better may come out on top. But the pressure is on Man City. They cannot afford to lose. They cannot even afford to draw.”
Paul Merson further reckons in a two-horse title race, the team that plays the first match in a weekend holds the edge over their rival. “I have said for a while now that we get to the final months of the season, the title could be decided by who plays first between Man City and Arsenal. With that in mind, the schedule looks to have dropped in favour of Man City. If Arsenal had been first up against Leeds this coming weekend and won the game, the pressure on Man City against Liverpool would have been mind blowing,” he explained.
“However, that’s not the way it has worked out. They can treat it like their game in hand and a win would see them go five points behind again, piling the pressure on Arsenal against Leeds. This also happens for the next couple of weeks, so I think that helps City. If Arsenal were to play first and go 11 points clear, wow. The pressure and points deficit would be enormous on City.”
