Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium – Source: Unsplash
Manchester City headed to Anfield on February 8th with the deck stacked against them. 24 hours prior, Arsenal had just picked up a resounding 3-0 victory over Sunderland at the Emirates, with Viktor Gyokeres’ brace extending his side’s Premier League title race lead to nine points. If that wasn’t bad enough, Pep Guardiola knew that his side had a terrible record when facing Liverpool away from home, winning in front of the Kop just once in 11 attempts.
It looked as though that miserable record would continue when Liverpool’s Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai thumped home a rasping 30-yard free kick, which left City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma rooted to the spot. But for arguably the first time all season, the visitors responded like a team determined to remain in the title race. Bernardo Silva managed to poke home from close range in the 84th minute to draw the Blues level, before Erling Haaland kept his composure after a lengthy delay to slot home a 93rd-minute penalty and secure his side a gritty 2-1 win.
The result moves Guardiola’s men within six points of Mikel Arteta’s table-topping Gunners, a margin that has prompted online betting sites to position Arsenal as the surefire favorites to win the title. The popular Lucky Rebel Sportsbook currently makes the North London club a mighty 2/11 frontrunner to claim the crown for the first time in 22 years, with City a distant 4/1 underdog. But after this come-from-behind win at Anfield, Haaland and Co. will feel that the six-point margin is more than manageable.
The Shadow of 2023
The ongoing title race is drawing comparisons to the 2022/23 season. Back then, a younger and more inexperienced Arsenal side led Manchester City by eight points with just ten games remaining, albeit the Blues had a couple of games in hand. What followed was a capitulation of the highest order.
The Gunners proceeded to draw three games on the bounce, surrendering two-goal leads in two of them before slumping to the third straight draw against rock bottom Southampton. They then had to make the trip to the Etihad for a title-race deciding clash against Guardiola’s side without their points advantage to rely on. They were duly thumped 4-1, and the Blues claimed the title for the third straight season.
This year, could history repeat itself? Arsenal have three straight away games on the horizon, before back-to-back London derbies against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. After that? A trip to the Etihad. Could lightning strike twice? The Emirates faithful will be hoping it cannot, citing that their side is much more experienced now than it was three years ago. City fans will argue that those scars run deep.
Will Erling Haaland’s Goals Make the Difference?
Haaland’s last-gasp penalty in front of those raucous traveling supporters in the Anfield away end was the prolific Norwegian’s 21st Premier League goal of the season. The former Borussia Dortmund man simply cannot stop scoring, and he hasn’t been able to ever since arriving at the Etihad three and a half years ago. The 25-year-old now has a whopping 152 goals in 182 games for the Blues, and he is the man tasked with propelling his side to the title, a title which would be Haaland’s third in four seasons in English football.
Compare that to Arsenal’s strike force, and the difference is striking. Viktor Gyokeres was the Gunners’ big-money signing in the summer, arriving for £63.5m from Sporting CP after a goal-laden two years in the Portuguese capital. He, however, has just eight league goals to his name, while his injury-prone strike partners Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have just two league goals between them. If the Gunners do miss out on the title, it will be their goal-shy strikers that fans point the blame at.
The Run-In
Both title protagonists will face trials and tribulations between now and a champion being crowned in May. Arsenal’s toughest run of form begins right now, three straight away games culminating in the North London derby on enemy territory away at rivals Spurs. They will then welcome Chelsea to the Emirates before making the trip to the South Coast to face Brighton, by no means an easy task on current form.
The Blues, by contrast, have a much easier run. Three of their next four games will be played at the Etihad, with a very winnable trip to face Leeds at Elland Road sandwiched in that run. A trip to face West Ham a fortnight after their visit to Yorkshire should also yield three points.
However, two crunch clashes could make or break their title challenge. Firstly, Guardiola’s side must head to a much-improved Chelsea on April 11th and leave Stamford Bridge with three points. A week later, it’s the big one: Manchester City vs Arsenal at the Etihad. The winner of that clash will more than likely end the season as champions.
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