LONDON : Manchester City are not used to playing a supporting role in a Premier League title drama but Sunday’s home game against leaders Liverpool at least offers Pep Guardiola’s inconsistent side the chance to grab centre stage again.
Fourth-placed City’s hopes of a record-extending fifth successive Premier League title have long since gone as they trail Liverpool by 17 points.
The scale of their decline was highlighted by a 6-3 aggregate defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League this week, although last week’s 4-0 drubbing of Newcastle United showed City are far from a spent force.
Second-placed Arsenal will certainly be hoping City view the clash with Liverpool as a chance to shake off any lingering Champions League hangover.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side will have taken plenty of encouragement from Liverpool dropping two points in a 2-2 draw away at Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Arne Slot’s reaction after the game was one of frustration that the door had been left slightly ajar.
Arsenal are eight points behind Liverpool but now have a game in hand and can exert some pressure on Slot’s side by beating West Ham United at home on Saturday.
Should Arsenal win and Liverpool lose at The Etihad, the gap would be down to five points with Arsenal having played a game less. The title race would then very much be on.
Two draws in their last three games have hardly set the alarm bells ringing at Anfield, but Slot’s demeanour at Villa suggested he would have liked a bigger advantage.
“The fixture list for us now is a few difficult ones in a row – that’s what you have to accept,” Slot, whose side host Newcastle United next Wednesday, said on Thursday.
“The good thing is that we are not behind someone, we are still number one and that’s the good thing if you go into a run of games like this.
“We know we have 12 games to play and Arsenal has 13 games to play. If we constantly look at Arsenal or what other teams are doing, that would not help us.”
INDUCE JITTERS
Arsenal have experienced title races for the past two seasons, both times finishing runners-up to City.
Injuries have severely restricted Arsenal’s attacking options with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz out for the rest of the season and Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli sidelined until April but Arsenal’s ability to grind out results means they are still in touch.
Arsenal’s last home game against West Ham resulted in a 2-0 defeat but they won 5-2 at the London Stadium this season, having beaten West Ham 6-0 there a year ago.
West Ham have hardly enjoyed a new manager bounce under Graham Potter, winning only one of his five league games in charge and while they are 10 points above the drop zone in 16th place, a few more defeats could induce some jitters.
The Hammers will be without Lucas Paqueta for the derby after he suffered a knock in training.
“Clearly, results-wise we need to improve. We’re in the Premier League, and we want more points,” Potter said.
Several clubs with ambitions to finish in the top four clash this weekend with third-placed Nottingham Forest at seventh-placed Newcastle United while sixth-placed Chelsea will seek to emerge from their slump at ninth-placed Villa on Saturday.
Form team Bournemouth, beaten only once in their last 13 league games, have the chance to move above City in to fourth place when they host 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. The weekend’s fixtures begin on Friday with 19th-placed Leicester City taking on Brentford.
