Gameweek 12 – Liverpool’s Title to Lose
It was the match circled on our calendars for weeks. The one where players, managers and storylines were destined to collide at a frigid Anfield. And other than the weather, all such tensions and emotions ran hot throughout the night in a pulsating match between the league two best sides.
Come the end of it all, Liverpool found another way to pull out a victory like they have on so many occasions this season. The Reds carried 2 goals inside the opening quarter of an hour to a 3-1 victory over Manchester City, extending their Premier League lead to 8 points and 9 ahead of City.
In a league where every ebb and flow matter most, you can’t help but feel Liverpool’s advantage is virtually insurmountable. Will an 8-point lead last? Only the Reds can prove that.
Oh yeah, nine other matches were played on the weekend. We’ll get you caught up with the most crucial storylines across the league.
A Shattered City Side
Yes, ‘shattered’ is quite a strong term for a squad with the talents of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in fine form. Not to mention their world class manager you might have heard of before. Yet, by the end of Sunday’s titular fight, you couldn’t help but feel City were shaken to their core by what played out on the field.
City had previously won only once at Anfield in 38 years and it felt as though they needed at least a draw in order to stay in the early hunt for the title. But the game moved away from them in the early moments after a strong penalty appeal for a handball on Trent Alexander-Arnold in his own area was dismissed by referee Michael Oliver. Inevitably of course, Liverpool marched down to the other end of the field for Fabinho to rifle a strike in the left corner that catapulted the Reds to a 1-0 lead.
Pep and City were left fuming near the center circle, begging for Oliver to have VAR review Alexander-Arnold’s ‘handball heard round the world except Stockley Park.’ But he did not budge.
As I know this is what everyone wants, let’s pause to answer the most pressing VAR situation from the weekend.
Was it a handball? Well it’s important to note that rules allow room for discretion. It’s not a black and white issue. The factors to take into consideration are whether he had the opportunity to get his arm out of the way and whether his arm was deemed to be in a natural position.
Oliver made his choice immediately. He had a clear view of the incident and decided to let play go on. It was unlikely VAR would have overturned that decision in such magnificent circumstances. Yet it does feel cheated that Oliver himself doesn’t get the opportunity to observe the incident through replay under the Premier League’s current VAR system.
Would Oliver have overturned the call were he to have seen it again? We’ll probably never know. But I for one think it’s worth reconsidering how one of the league’s best referees can’t review a crucial decision in the league’s most prestigious match. It’s time for the Premier League to allow officials to go to the monitor and review their own decisions.
Would City have gone on to win had the goal been disallowed and a penalty been given to City? Hard to say really. City certainly had their chances throughout, but ultimately didn’t bring their clinical boots to finish off their creativity. Plus, Liverpool exploited City’s weakest link with striking precision. I’d find it hard to believe that Klopp’s men would have frozen after a 5th minute penalty decision going against their will.
As for the rest of the match, both sides deserve full credit in going for it all. It’s not often we witness a match of such magnitude truly living up to its predetermined billing. I was certainly a skeptic as to how open the match would be given the severity of the occasion. See last year’s 0-0 final for reference. Yet despite the potential urge to hold a deep line, Pep’s side went for the jugular right off the opening whistle. Even after the opening goal and VAR kerfuffle, Sterling and De Bruyne narrowly missed close chances inside Liverpool’s penalty area.
The deciding factor that swung the game in Liverpool’s direction was their ability to attack from wide areas. The way Andy Robertson and Alexander-Arnold switched play and distributed the ball, especially the latter, was breath-taking at times, as was the speed and intensity displayed by Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane going forward. Both Salah and Mane caught City’s fullbacks napping on Liverpool’s second and third goals.
For Pep and City, Sunday was an opportunity gone up in a Merseyside mist. Poor officiating aside, even the most amateur viewer could recognize how wound up Guardiola was near the end. He knew it was a chance to pull within three points of their title rivals gone missing. For the first time since his initial Premier League campaign, Pep needs to dig up answers to lingering depth and injury issues that have haunted City’s fortunes. It won’t stop him from pressing his team to the last, but Sunday’s outcome — and antics — certainly derails their momentum in attempting to do so.
As for Livepool, since three points for a win was introduced in 1981, only three teams have been eight points or more ahead after 12 games: Manchester United in 1985-86 and 1993-95, and City in 2017-18. The latter two of those three teams went on to win the title. The question now is how Liverpool deal with being such emphatic front-runners, given how they stumbled after taking a big lead last season (10-point advantage in December). Klopp is certainly still aware of the dangers such a lead can present.
“It’s not important because who wants to be first in November? You want to be first in May. The pressure is not there yet,” he said. “It will come, but at the moment it’s just opportunity.”
Still, Liverpool are a team that not only look quite formidable, they have a knack for cranking out maximum points even when matches seem to be going the other direction. Already this season they have faced City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United, failing only to beat United. To be eight points clear at this stage and with those fixtures in the rear view? It’s no wonder Guardiola said Liverpool are the ‘best team in the world’ on Sunday.
Those Sly Foxes in Second
Contrary to popular belief, there were a bevy of other fixtures with crucial results on the line this weekend. Most important of them? A sound and exciting Leicester side squaring off against a North London side that can’t figure out who they want to be. I’ll let you figure out which one.
Figure it out yet? OK, it’s Arsenal.
The two dichotic sides matched up in a total downpour at the King Power. A scoreless first half was more or less even for both ends, but Leicester’s quality attack wore down Arsenal’s fragile back line like sandpaper. The breakthrough eventually came off a string of sharp passes, finished off by the league’s most in form striker, Jamie Vardy.James Maddison added an arrow to the tally, and the Foxes danced home 2-0 victors and 1 point above City in 2nd place.
When seeing Leicester so far up the table, it’s incredibly easy to fall into the trope of their 2015-16 title against-all-odds title winning campaign under Claudio Ranieri. There have already been buckets of, ‘can they do it again’-esque questions. But to compare the title odds or miraculous runs between Ranieri’s team and Brendan Rodger’s would be a disservice to the current one. Because this year’s Foxes are better than their title winning version.
A shored-up defense was key in 2015-16, but Rodgers has his back line on complete lock down by conceding the fewest goals in the league this season. To add on to that, the Foxes have scored the 2nd highest number of goals, are number one in overperforming their expected goals, and have a dynamic link up between their five most attacking players, Vardy, Maddsion, Perez, Barnes and Tielemans.
Leicester have now won four in a row since their last league defeat at Liverpool, and with every passing week look an even better bet for a Champions League placing. This team can go places with the attributes they hold. And since they’ve done it before, why not once more?
Emery at End
It’s pretty telling that Arsenal has lost direction, or let’s face it, fallen off the rails completely. They’re an imbalanced side with at best no plan. As to where Unai Emery’s train was even headed? No one really knows. And don’t try asking the players, or the man himself, for advice on what it looks like, because at the moment it seems Emery is just trying to find what sticks.
Case in point: Arsenal lining up in a flat back five to start the match against Leicester, then effectively switching to back three for some of the Premier League’s most prolific attackers to exploit. Meanwhile up top, they posed a threat in the wide areas by pushing Lacazette and Aubameyang toward the sidelines but lacked vigor on the finishing end. Plus, Ozil completed his PL special disappearance act once more.
Though Arsenal have reportedly touted to hold the Spaniard in place until year’s end, Emery must feel a sigh of relief with his next matches coming against Southampton and Norwich. He needs nothing short of six points.
Rapid Fire Points
Chelsea Keep Crusing
While implosions plague their preseason competitors, Chelsea have quietly pieced together six wins in a row and sit joint second in the table (behind Leicester on goal difference). In their 2-0 triumph over South London rivals Crystal Palace, Frank Lampard started Chelsea’s youngest side in the modern era, with an average age of under 25-years-old.
Even more impressive than the youth was their commanding display throughout the match. Palace, a side quite known for punching above their weight, managed only three shots the entire match. Chelsea were calm in defense and patient in attack. American Christian Pulisic scored his 5th in three games and looks a consistent mainstay on the left-hand side.
Overall, they still ask questions of their defense, but consistent reps for their young guns are paying off their returns much quicker than anyone predicted.
Clip Your Toenails
A mid-level Tottenham side and top half Sheffield squared off to a 1-1 draw on the weekend. Bet you wouldn’t have expected that sentence earlier this year. And in reality, Tottenham were lucky to come away with a single point altogether.
VAR’s second controversial talking point of the weekend came after John Lundstram’s big toe apparently showed he was offside and ruled out a Scott McGoldrick goal for the Blades. It was tight, yes (it took 3 minutes 47 seconds to determine), and technically was offsides. Though if you ask many, it’s another example of a rule gone too far and instead squeezes out the fairness of it all.
Chris Wilder spoke on the issue after the match by saying, “I’m tired of talking about VAR. The main talking point for me was seeing my team go toe to toe with a team that got to the Champions League final last year.” I agree. Though in this case maybe his side a toe too far.
Burnley Bounce Back
Most of the post-game press from Turf Moore focused on (and rightly so) West Ham’s dreadful streak of five losses in a row, but nothing should be taken away from Sean Dyche’s side. With a healthy Chris Wood back in the lineup and a returning to form Ashley Barnes, the Bees finally had some brawn up top to finish off their chances and pummel out a 3-0 win.
On another note, Saturday afternoon was a complete calamity for West Ham’s backup goalkeeper Roberto. Manuel Pellegrini gave him the vote of confidence despite a poor midweek performance in the Carabao Cup, but he couldn’t live up to the billing Pellegrini will now spend some ample time in the prayer room in hopes that Lucas Fabianski can return with speed.
And, Finally, A Win
And finally, a hearty congratulations to Watford for becoming the 91st and final English League team to secure a victory this season. It’s been a while coming for Qique Sanchez Florez, but the Hornets put together a thorough 90-minute, 2-0 performance against Norwich City on Friday. Despite the fact they went down to 10 men, Norwich never looked threatening enough, and Watford now look to create some momentum on the bounce.
Zeke Ouellette Media 