Paul Merson looks ahead to the Premier League’s return as he gives his verdict on Man City’s crucial showdown with Liverpool on Saturday…
The Premier League gets back under way after the international break at the Etihad Stadium with Man City and Liverpool facing a huge game in the race for the title and the battle to reach the top four.
League leaders Arsenal currently lead Man City by eight points but Pep Guardiola’s team have the chance to cut that gap to five with a win over Liverpool, while Jurgen Klopp’s side face a crucial week when they face City, Chelsea and Arsenal as they bid to qualify for the Champions League.
The Magic Man, in his exclusive skysports.com column, takes a closer look at the game between Man City and Liverpool, saying it’s a must win clash for City, while he thinks Liverpool’s Champions League qualification hopes are firmly on the line in their next three matches.
He also discusses Arsenal’s bid to end their wait for a Premier League crown before talking about his experiences of being involved in a title race.
‘No room for error from Man City’
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.
A tough game to come back to…
It’s a nightmare game for both Man City and Liverpool to have so soon after the international break.
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.
What impact does the fixture schedule have on the title race?
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.
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.
A big week for Liverpool’s top-four hopes…
Liverpool are going to have a big say in the destination of the title.
They travel to City this week before hosting Arsenal next weekend.
They may not be in the title race themselves, but they still have plenty to play for as they look to creep into the Champions League places.
It’s a huge week for them with Chelsea in between the games against Man City and Arsenal. It’s a defining week for them with results going to have a huge impact on their top-four chances.
If they do not get something from these games, then they will not be back in the Champions League next season.
But four points from the next few games and you would not want to back against them going on a huge run and securing Champions League qualification.
‘Every game is big’
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he’s learnt to trust his squad as he believes they’re ready to give everything they can to win the title, as the Premier League season approaches its final chapter.
We are at the stage of the season where every game is big now.
The bottom sides are fighting for their lives, the mid-table teams still have an outside chance of Europe and then you got the title race. Even the teams who have nothing to play for can go an express themselves at this stage of the season as they have nothing to fear.
There are no easy games.
I was fortunate enough to be a part of a few title races and two title-winning teams.
Mikel Arteta discusses how Arsenal have used inverted full-backs this season and where he first saw the position come into play
This is it now, we are into the final 10 or so games of the season. The feeling is completely different to the first 28 games of the season.
At the moment, I get the same feelings about Arsenal as I did when Leicester won the title.
I know Leicester were massive outsiders but there was always a feeling that they would get caught in the end. But every week another game went by, and they were still out in front. They kept winning and then before you knew it the games had run out and it was too late. Tottenham drew to Chelsea and that was it. It’s only going to take a result like that for Man City and that will be that.
I have the same vibes as I had with Leicester with Arsenal. Everybody is expecting a collapse but so far it isn’t coming.
Arsenal’s remaining fixtures
April 1: Leeds (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 9: Liverpool (A) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 16: West Ham (A) – Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
April 21: Southampton (H) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
April 26: Man City (A) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm
April 29: Chelsea (H) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 7: Newcastle (A) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 13: Brighton (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Nottingham Forest (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Wolves (H) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
Man City’s remaining fixtures
April 1: Liverpool (H) – Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm
April 8: Southampton (A) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 11: Bayern Munich (H) – Champions League, kick-off 8pm
April 15: Leicester (H) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 19: Bayern Munich (A) – Champions League, kick-off 8pm
April 22: Sheffield United (N) – FA Cup, kick-off 3pm
April 26: Arsenal (H) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm
April 30: Fulham (A) – Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
May 3: West Ham (H) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 7: Leeds United (H) – Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
May 13: Everton (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Chelsea (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Brentford (A) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
TBA: Brighton (A) – Premier League