A few weeks ago, when Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane had left to play the African Cup of Nations, former Manchester United defender turned television pundit Gary Neville had ruled out the Reds’ chances of potentially winning the Premier League. However, he has appeared to change his mind and thinks that a title race with Manchester City could be on the cards.
City lost 2-3 to Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, blowing the Premier League title race open. Neville has now made it clear that ‘we do have a title race’ between Liverpool and the Citizens on Sky Sports, which could get very intense.
As things stand, Jurgen Klopp’s men are six points behind Pep Guardiola’s side at the top of the table but do have a game in hand. They will be hoping to cut down that gap to only three points when they take on Leeds United on February 23. Liverpool are also yet to travel to the Etihad this season, and that clash could also be a potential title decider.
The former Manchester United captain had earlier deemed Liverpool’s chances of winning the title as faint after Salah and Mane had left for the African Cup of Nations. But he has changed his mind regarding the title race since then.
“Liverpool are a great side. Without Mane and Sale, for the last month, which makes it incredibly difficult for them to chase down Manchester City.
“But if you said to me two or three weeks ago, ‘Mane and Salah go to the Africa Cup of Nations, get to the final and Liverpool end up closing the gap on Man City.’ Then, I would have said ‘no that’s not going to happen’ because Manchester City have looked absolutely incredible’. But we do have a title race.”
said Neville.
Klopp’s side deserve plenty of credit for consistently pushing a Manchester City side that isn’t short on resources and world-class personnel. Liverpool seem to be improving their game each and every week which could also be a headache for Guardiola.
The Reds have bolstered their attack with the addition of Luis Diaz, and the Salah-Mane duo seem to be as good as ever. Virgil Van Dijk has also been marshalling the defence extremely well lately.
