With Arsenal dropping points at Sunderland on Saturday, either of the two teams at the Etihad Stadium can move into second place and close the gap on the leaders, with the Reds closing to within five points of the Gunners if they make it three straight wins in early November.
However, if Arne Slot’s side are defeated today it will be their fifth league defeat after just 11 matchweeks, leaving them eight points behind the leaders, while Pep Guardiola’s side will receive a boost by landing a direct goal on a positional rival.
Wenger refuses to rule Liverpool out of the title race
Speaking on expert duty for beIN SPORTS Ahead of tonight’s match in Manchester, Richard Keys pressed Wenger on whether Liverpool’s hopes of a second successive Premier League title would be effectively over if they lose at the Etihad.
Despite the obvious bait for an affirmative answer, the former Arsenal manager calmly replied: “They’re not out of the title race because we’re in November.”
Wenger delivers a welcome dose of reality
Wenger has been involved in enough Premier League title races during his time in North London to know that nothing has been definitively decided even a third of the way into the season.
Defeat for Liverpool tonight would not put them out of contention to retain their title, but it would leave them little room for error for the rest of the season if they suffered a fifth top-flight defeat before the November international break.
A draw would keep both teams at least six points clear and would not be fatal to either side’s hopes of overcoming Arsenal, but it could be seen as a missed opportunity to capitalize on yesterday’s result at the Stadium of Light.
However, if the Reds are to repeat last season’s victory at the Etihad, the belief that they could win by beating Real Madrid and Man City in the space of a week – just as they did almost a year ago – would leave them firmly convinced that a second successive Premier League crown is certainly within reach (even though Chris Sutton claimed we are too ‘vulnerable’ to finish first).
In this age of black-and-white social media sound bytes, Wenger’s reality check provides welcome hearing. A decisive result tonight would feel psychologically huge anyway, but it wouldn’t definitively rule out either team from what could still be an enthralling title race.
You can watch Slot’s full pre-Man City press conference via Kingdom of the Head on YouTube:
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