As we head into the final stretch of the season, people are going to be wondering whether it will be Manchester City or Liverpool who will be taking the title at the end of it. I reckon that it is going to be Manchester City walking away with the title in a few months, and there are five reasons why this is the case.
Manchester City ‘bested’ Liverpool
In my opinion, and probably the opinion of many of the top rated betting sites out there, is that the winner of the title was down to whoever won the match out of the two teams. After all, if you win a match over your opponent, then you instantly have a two-point lead over them.
A few short weeks ago, Manchester City handed Liverpool their first loss of the season. It seemed to start a chain reaction too, as Liverpool lost their next game as well. Although, more on that in a short while.
Since Manchester City have these two points over Liverpool, Manchester City can afford to drop one or two points over the course of the season, and even if Liverpool and Manchester City perform similarly to one another for the rest of the games, City could still be walking away with that title.
If that match had ended up as a draw, I would have completely changed this point.
Liverpool will get too comfortable at the top-notch
As I write this article, Liverpool are sitting at the top of the Premier League with 54 points to Manchester City’s 50 points. This means that there is more than a win separating the two of them.
The problem is, and we have seen this time and time again, that when a team ends up with a huge buffer at the top of the table, they start to get a little bit too ‘confident’ with what they are doing. When you become too confident, you become a bit more experimental, and it could mean that you end up dropping points.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not think that Manchester City are going to be closing the gap with Liverpool too soon, and it will probably happen within the last month or so of the season, but I do think that they are going to close that gap, and they may end up taking the title by only one or two points.
Liverpool are not performing well
At the time of writing, Liverpool are fresh off losing two matches in a row. This is awful for a team which was unbeaten for the season to date. Tomorrow, they are facing off against Brighton, however, it already seems as if they are getting the excuses in for a loss.
Brighton are not a shabby team by any stretch of the imagination. They do not have the huge funds available that the larger teams in the Premier League have. However, they always seem to give the big teams in the league a run for their money.
By the time you read this, you will probably know exactly how that match has gone. If Liverpool do not ‘demolish’ Brighton, who they really should be beating, then it is really going to set the tone for the rest of the season. It is demonstrating that Liverpool may have fallen off a little bit. Sure, they may regain their composure, but who knows whether they are going to be able to regain it before Manchester City catch them up.
Manchester City have more money
We are now in January. This means that all the teams are now starting to spend cash in the last transfer window of the season.
The problem for Liverpool is that Manchester City have a seemingly endless pot of cash. Liverpool do not.
Manchester City can afford to take risks with their players. They will be able to get their hands on players who Liverpool will never be able to afford. Manchester City could afford to replace their entire team if they felt that it would help them win the Premier League. Liverpool could afford to replace just one or two players. Now, obviously, Manchester City are not going to be replacing their entire team, but it does go to show the gulf in cash the two players have.
In January, I reckon that Manchester City are going to be spending a lot of cash on boosting their team. I mean a lot of cash. Liverpool may have one or two crafty purchases, and that is it.
Manchester City have more squad depth
Manchester City simply have more good players to choose from. This always helps. If Liverpool lose a good player, they are going to struggle. Manchester City could deal with countless injuries and still come out laughing at the end of the day.
