The Premier League title race is wide open. Manchester City are back in the game after defeating leaders Liverpool to cut the gap back to four points on Thursday evening.
Leroy Sane was the hero of the night, scoring a monumental winner at the Etihad and Pep Guardiola’s men are now right back in the race as we head further into a young 2019.
It briefly looked to be over. When Liverpool surged into a seven-point lead while Manchester City stumbled and faltered over the Christmas period, it looked, for a moment, like the title race we have craved in the Premier League wouldn’t take shape.
With Liverpool feeling nothing but positive and making easy work of whatever was put in front of them, and in contrast, with Manchester City looking down on the deck following two consecutive defeats, it looked as though the title would only be heading to Merseyside.
But this is the Premier League. Things may have been straightforward last season, but this season it looks as if we will be treated to a closely run title race.
Manchester City are now just four points behind the leaders and they now also have the upper-hand. Suddenly, it’s Guardiola’s men who have the confidence and the wind in their sails.
Now, it’s Jurgen Klopp who has to assess his team and find the answers. Liverpool looked indestructible for so long, but hey have now been beaten for the first time in the league. And that first defeat couldn’t have come against anyone worse in terms of their title hopes.
Liverpool will remain favourites – they have a four-point gap after all – but they now face a tough few weeks after that defeat. They must now prove their resilience and bounce back like they haven’t had to do so far this season.
Whether they can manage that could well define their season and Jurgen Klopp will know that. He needs to see character from his team in the next few weeks and it’s that character that will eventually win them the title if they can dig deep and discover it.
There’ll be plenty of twists and turns in this Premier League title race and make no mistake, both Manchester City and Liverpool will slip up between now and the end of the season.
For now, however, it’s only the Liverpool fans who may be losing sleep after being left frustrated by their team for allowing Manchester City back into this title race.For the neutral and the Manchester City fans, it’s a case of sleeping easily with the excitement of knowing that the title race is well and truly back on.
Let the fun and games begin.
