LIVERPOOL OR MANCHESTER CITY - WHO WILL BE CROWNED PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPION?

EPL / Soccer

Written by Aaron Cantin

The 2021-22 Premier League season has reached the business end of the campaign and the ‘run-in’ is going to be wild up and down the league. It has become a clear two-horse race and has been that way since the turn of the calendar year once Chelsea fell out of the race. Will the Reds claim just their second Premier League title, or will it be the Cityzens who hoist the trophy for the fourth time in five years? With three games remaining let’s look at the remaining schedule for the two squads. Here’s how it stands currently:

- 1st: Man City – 86 points (35 games) GD +68

- 2nd: Liverpool – 83 points (35 games) GD +64

Source (Background Photo): Laurence Griffiths/PA, Premier League

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola stressed that he believed his team must win all its remaining Premier League matches following the 2-2 draw with Liverpool. Yet there’s no underrating that even drawing Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium went a long way toward defending the Premier League title, especially given the remaining fixture lists for both teams.

Remaining games: Wolves (A), West Ham (A), Aston Villa (H)

Verdict: After seeing Liverpool drop points on Saturday (1-1 draw vs Tottenham) you wondered if City would take the petal off the gas for their match on Sunday knowing they finally have some breathing room. That was not the case. City dismembered Newcastle (who have been in form as of late) with a scoreline of 5-0. The scoreline was accurate to the game flow as well. If anything, City could have added more if needed. A scoreline like that really does make you wonder if they will drop any more points this season. Call it a wish or a prayer but I can see City dropping at least two points in their final three games.

Away to Wolverhampton and West Ham are not easy ties. Yes, City will be heavily favoured as always to come away with all six points, but both teams are in the top half of the table and want nothing more than to play spoiler against the light blues. I see West Ham specifically being a difficult match and City stumbling late allowing an equalizer.

Liverpool

For a few weeks, this section has read: Liverpool needs to navigate three competitions and manage to take at least 7-of-9 points from Man United at home (check), Tottenham at home, and a Merseyside derby at Anfield (check). Well, there’s a third check there, but the fact that it’s only a draw from Spurs is an issue. Considering City has double-digit league win streaks in each of the last two seasons, there’s no guarantee that Pep Guardiola’s men will even drop the two points that come with a draw. If the Reds manage to reclaim the Premier League crown, it will be incredibly well done.

Remaining games: Aston Villa (A), Southampton (A), Wolves (H)

Verdict: Interestingly enough City and Liverpool face two of the three same opponents (Villa and Wolves). At first glance, I would say Wolves would be the toughest match but considering it is the final match of the season if the Reds still have a chance of claiming the title no team (aside from perhaps City) would get in the way of a Reds victory on home soil. Ultimately, I think Liverpool will take care of all three games earning nine of nine points to finish the season. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done, tying the Spurs over the weekend. In the end, it’s City who will claim their fourth title in five years, edging Liverpool by one point at the top of the table.

Race for Top Four

City and the Reds are in a league of their own and it has been that way for the past three seasons, leaving the remaining 18 teams to battle for the final two Champions League spots. Defending Champions League winner Chelsea was thought to challenge the two squads atop the table and they did that for half the season. It has been a rough 2022 for Chelsea however, getting knocked out of the title race, eliminated from the Champions League and the Russian club owner forced to sell the club due to the war in Ukraine.

As a result, Chelsea has joined Arsenal and Tottenham in the Champions League race. Here is what the table looks like with three games remaining:

As you can see Chelsea holds just a one-point advantage over the Gunners. The Gunners and Spurs battle each other in a couple of weeks’ time as the most notable game left on the Premier League calendar. Tottenham cannot afford to drop any more points and even then, may not crack the top four. If the Gunners can claim every point and still lose to the Spurs, they will finish fourth. I think that is exactly what will happen. The blues will finish strong claiming third place, and Arsenal will fall to Spurs but claim the other six points available leaving the Spurs to feel hard done as they take down the Gunners but book their spot in the Europa League rather than the Champions League.