Liverpool, Man City and a turning point in the Premier League title race | OneFootball

By the time that Liverpool got back from Aston Villa, Arne Slot was already trying to be composed about a game that could really have gone either way. Darwin Nunez could and should have won it, sure, but Liverpool also had to come from behind. Slot is trying to point to the potential value of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s equaliser.

The emotional swing feels a bit like the title race itself, and that is of course the context everything is now being put into.

It’s all the more pronounced given this is a week that could well prove a turning point. Liverpool face a trip to Manchester City before an awkward home match against Newcastle United. Arsenal have a more forgiving run but a much more punishing injury list. Mikel Merino has nevertheless given them a new impetus, that invigorating sense of an unexpected solution at a problematic time.

You can see why there’s a sense of focus around both clubs. There are enough elements in place for wild swings either way. It’s as easy to argue that Liverpool could go 10-plus clear as it is that the gap could be cut to four or less.

In other words, for the first time, the Premier League trophy is in view. We are getting through the slow build-up, those first 28 games that almost represent the three first days of a golf major.

Slot doesn’t want his players looking at it like that, of course. Just like Mikel Arteta, he’ll be getting his squad to focus on the next game. It might be dull, but that’s why it works.

A greater excitement or agitation about what might be down the road doesn’t distract players.

Slot will be aware of how acutely important that is for Liverpool right now, since talk of the title itself could turn to something else, something bigger.

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Slot’s side remain eight points clear despite the 2-2 at Aston Villa (Action Images via Reuters)

The title that the club once had almost exclusive preserve on has instead become something so precious over the last 35 years. There’s only been one in that time, and they didn’t get to celebrate that properly due to the pandemic.

While it’s not like Jurgen Klopp’s supreme achievement is in any way overlooked and dismissed, it may have a different historical feature. It could set up an even more collectively significant title.

That is number 20, to go level with Manchester United’s English record. Liverpool, in other words, would be back on their perch.

Little wonder there’s more emotion creeping into the stadium and then the pitch, even if some it right now is entirely subconscious. “Twenty” isn’t really coming up amongst the fanbase yet, as the Anfield Wrap’s Neil Atkinson explains.

“If Liverpool win it, currently the mindset is it replaces the one we didn't get to celebrate, the league winning party we never got to have. This time we could get a parade we can invite the whole Liverpool supporting world to.”

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Liverpool’s nerves in the win over Wolves signalled the next stage of the run-in (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Everyone is adamant that no one is celebrating anything yet. They’re all too focused on that next game, as Slot would appreciate.

The great issue is that next game is away to the team that have most recently dominated the Premier League perch. Manchester City aren’t what they were, and Wednesday’s defeat to Real Madrid reiterated so many issues, but there has been significant improvement from that 2-0 defeat at Anfield in December.

The entire dynamic from that Liverpool victory has actually flipped.

This is despite the trajectories of the teams broadly being the same as then. Liverpool are still just better right now, as illustrated by how they sit far out in front at the top of the league. They currently have a more coherent and complete team, with Mohamed Salah performing to a level far beyond anyone else. Behind him, even the exquisite Ryan Gravenberch would be highly appealing to Guardiola right now.

City’s recruitment had meanwhile started to solve issues but they’re evidently some way off finally fixing them.

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Guardiola’s team were humbled by Real Madrid (PA Wire)

And yet that might not be reflected on Sunday. For that December game, after all, it was as if Liverpool could just go out and play. They had no concerns, in great contrast to City. They were enjoying where they were, and the sense of a team coming together. Now, there’s a lot to think about. You could see that in the 2-1 against Wolves.

By contrast, City won’t have the same sense of weight. They have a lot of their own aims, of course, like getting back into the Champions League and maybe even going on a run that gets them closer to the top. At home for a game like this, though, they can play that bit more freely.

There were also be the fire from trying to deny the team that had been their main rivals. The antipathy between these two clubs isn’t as strong as that between City and Arsenal, but it is still strong.

City will be keen for a statement after Wednesday. All of that can change as the game goes on, but the stakes will be obvious at its start. This is what a title race can start to do. This is how tension grips.

With this match, there’s also the sense of what it will mean for the next week, and what that could mean for the season. It’s why it’s all the more important to concentrate on the game at hand. That dull approach can make for exhilarating matches.