Jamie Carragher has noticed an interesting difference between the current Liverpool team and the Manchester City sides who’ve won six of the past seven Premier League titles.
The Reds are well-placed to succeed Pep Guardiola’s outfit as English champions, holding an 11-point lead over Arsenal with just seven matches remaining, although defeat to Fulham on Sunday (their third loss in four across all competitions) has led some pundits to fear an unthinkable implosion in the run-in.
Craig Bellamy is among those who’s firmly confident that there won’t be a nasty late twist in the title race, even proclaiming on Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football that Arne Slot’s team had been the best in Europe for a period earlier in the season.
Carragher notices contrast between Liverpool and Man City
Carragher – a fixed presence on that particular programme – also believes that Liverpool will get over the line in first place, although he did notice a contrast between their recent slump after racing out of the starting blocks, and Man City often being slower out of the traps before hitting the turbo from January onwards.
The former Reds defender said: “Sometimes when you think of title winners – even in the past you think of the great Man United teams, they’d have a little spell in maybe October or November when they weren’t themselves and after Christmas they’d win every game, or Man City would do that.
“Liverpool are almost doing it the other way. We don’t know how long that’ll continue. Some of the results have been in different competitions. They’ve only lost twice [in the league] and it’s the first [top-flight] game they’ve lost in 26, but it mightn’t be a case where we see title winners winning every game towards the end of the season.
“As Craig said, they’ve done the work. Certainly from that November international break to March, that’s where the title is won, and I think most of us think they’ll still go on to win that title.”
Liverpool should still have enough to afford a couple of stumbles
Had Liverpool been in this very same position off the back of an extended winning run instead of stuttering as they have lately, the general narrative would probably be that they’re on an unstoppable surge towards glory, but their current wobble has seen the door still left slightly ajar for Arsenal.
Carragher’s point is nonetheless an interesting one – how often have we seen Man City playing catch-up near the end of a calendar year, only to fire off win after win after win once the festive period is over?
We know about that more than anyone else – think back to 2018/19 when Guardiola’s side won 14 consecutive matches (and 18 of their last 19) to take the title by a point from the Reds, whose nine-game winning streak to close out a 97-point campaign somehow still wasn’t enough.
Even going to April of last year, they were a point behind Arsenal but closed out the season with eight successive wins to clinch a fourth consecutive Premier League crown.
Certain Liverpool fans might understandably remain haunted by the collapse at the end of 2013/14, or more recently by the drop-off at this stage of last season, but this time around we should have enough of a buffer at the top to afford a couple of stumbles and still become champions.
That said, beating West Ham on Sunday wouldn’t half-help to soothe any lingering nerves after the past month!
