CITY AND LIVERPOOL HOW OUR RIVALS COMPARE TO PRIOR SEASONS

City and Liverpool How Our Title Rivals Compare to Prior Seasons

by Martin Calleja Urry

In one of the most exciting, unpredictable seasons the Premier League has witnessed for decades, the top spot has been shared by Liverpool, Leicester, Everton, Tottenham and even Southampton. Meanwhile, United and City have also reached the peak in what constitutes the first real battle between the two for the Premier League since we last won the title in 2012/2013.

With Covid-19 looming over the season like a rain cloud ready to explode, the campaign began with somewhat of a whimper, as many big teams failed to live up to expectations. Liverpool began the season decently enough, brushing aside most teams, but red flags were raised when they lost 7-2 to Aston Villa, a result which would have never happened in years past.

Slowly but surely, the chinks in their armour began to reveal themselves, and shortly after Everton’s Pickford ended Van Dijk’s season with a crunching tackle, things started going from bad to worse. As Gomez and Matip dropped out not long after, with Jota, Thiago, Milner and others joining on the sideline, Liverpool really did have their backs against the wall. Generally, Klopp seems to manage their sidelined players with relative ease, but the back room staff seemed swamped this season, and perhaps the ex-Borussia Dortmund manager’s highflying style is to blame.

Klopp’s style does get results, but it’s not without its consequences. Football is an incredibly taxing activity on the lower body and muscle injuries are very common, particularly for the more explosive players that get the most miles in and sprint regularly. It’s not unusual for managers to lean towards one style of play, but his over reliance on this ideology is possibly what’s landed him in hot water this season. It’s easy to say with hindsight, but one cannot expect players to perform at the same intensity with games being within 3 days of each other and after having spent the last few years at full speed. His lack of adaptability and over reliance on one approach has signified the first time in recent history that Klopp’s castle is beginning to crumble.

Attempts to deploy the likes of Henderson and Fabinho in the centre-back positions proved to be an effective but temporary bandage for Liverpool’s deep wounds. Struggling to keep their heads above water

and severely lacking in the defensive department, Liverpool’s more recent form is more likely what would one expect to see having 3 first choice centre backs missing. Initially, the world-class efforts of Salah, Mane and company were enough to keep them at the forefront, but Klopp can’t exactly be commended for the way he slowly let the situation on the other side of the pitch deteriorate.

On the 20th of February, Everton trounced Liverpool 2-0 to shatter a record held for 22 years and to make it 4 successive league defeats, an embarrassing statistic for a team that was simply on another level before their injury woes. Now they may even struggle to maintain a top four spot, as Leicester remain consistent and Chelsea seem to be on the ascent. Realistically, the best they can hope for now is a strong Champions League display, and if their dressing room troubles settle down a bit, perhaps they can challenge for a place in Europe.

While it has been a thrilling campaign so far, the 2020/2021 season will always be remembered for the wrong reasons, which are self-explanatory at this point. It might sound cliché, but losing the 12th man is another contributing factor to Liverpool’s decline, as their fans really go the extra mile City on the other hand began the first half of the season as a dark horse, slowly building momentum in the shadows while other teams battled it out at the top. Normally they hit the ground running and batter any lesser team in their path, but this time, they played the long game. Uncharacteristically, they scored way fewer goals than in seasons past but began to create a rock-solid defensive foundation with the likes of Garcia and Stones stepping up to the plate. Previously, their focus on attack always left gaps at the back, a style of play Guardiola had effectively used to outscore opponents with superior firepower.

Nowadays he seems to have found the perfect balance between offense and defence, while most of his top performers continue to impress. The likes of Silva and Kompany are long gone, but there are plenty of other thorns in our side replacing them. De Bruyne has more than a dozen assists alone and is widely recognized as the best player in the Premier League, while Foden has began to show why he’s the only player Pep claims to never want to sell at any cost. Gundogan has added plenty of goals to his game from midfield and the Spaniards Garcia and Torres have also excelled. Their striker troubles with Aguero out injured slowed them down tremendously early on, but Sterling and Jesus combined well enough to get them through a slight goal drought, the pair scoring around 20 goals throughout the course of the season.

What will it take for us to pip Pep and the Citizens to their 5th title in 10 years? On the bright side, City’s schedule isn’t exactly a walk in the park, as they still have to play against many of the top teams while simultaneously battling to win the only trophy that was so far eluded them, the Champions League. Pundits seem to believe we’re well off, with odds greatly favouring the Sky Blues, however, hope is certainly not lost.

They currently occupy the first place with a certain amount of confidence, but United are more than capable of catching up with them. A couple of games could change the entire outlook of the season and smaller clubs seem to be affecting the top half more than ever before. Furthermore, the critical battle between the Manchester teams on the 7th March may prove to be a defining moment. Even if we don’t clinch the title for the first time since the departure of the one and only Ferguson, we can finally throw our hat in the ring with the big boys again and build our way up to securing England’s most prestigious trophy.

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