City confront Anfield hoodoo as Arsenal eye EPL crown

Arsenal could take another giant step towards the English Premier League (EPL) title with victory over Sunderland on Saturday before Manchester City face a daunting trip to Liverpool.

The Gunners already enjoy a six-point lead at the top of the table as they close in on a first title since 2003/04.

Aston Villa remain the best of the rest behind the top two but a dip in form for Unai Emery’s men has allowed Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to bunch up in the race for a place in next season’s Champions League.

The latest in a series of second half-collapses at Tottenham last weekend to blow a two-goal lead leaves City with precious little margin for error left in the title race.

Despite an excellent first season back in the top-flight for Sunderland, Arsenal will expect to take care of business at the Emirates and stretch their lead to nine points 24 hours before City make their annual dreaded trip to Anfield.

City’s only victory away to Liverpool since 2003 came in an empty stadium during Coronavirus restrictions in 2021.

The form of Pep Guardiola’s men on the road does little to inspire confidence they can end that barren run on Sunday.

Boasting identical home records, the six-point deficit to Arsenal comes from the difference between the sides away from home.

However, Liverpool boss Arne Slot remains wary of a City squad that beat his side 3-0 earlier in the season and were able to cruise into the League Cup final over Newcastle despite Guardiola making five changes in midweek.

“That tells you, combined with the game we played against them, what a force City still is and always will be,” said Slot.

Guardiola lauds Haaland as ‘world’s best striker:’ Guardiola insisted Erling Haaland is the ‘best striker in the world’ despite refusing to confirm if the misfiring City star will start Sunday’s crucial clash with Liverpool.

Haaland has scored just twice in his last 12 appearances, and Guardiola elected to drop him to the bench for City’s 3-1 win over Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

He has suffered a significant loss of form after scoring 19 goals in 14 games in all competitions in a blistering start to the season that included become the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals. City have subsequently struggled during Haaland’s dip, falling six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.

The Norwegian scored when City beat Liverpool 3-0 earlier this season, but Guardiola would not reveal if he will feature against Slot’s side this weekend.

“I don’t know until tomorrow. But all I say is Erling is the best. Erling is the best striker in the world,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

Guardiola side-stepped a question about his own future as speculation mounts that this will be his last season at City, saying: “I have one more year on my contract. It is the same answer I answered two months ago.”

The Spaniard signed a two-year contract extension in November 2024 and the deal is due to expire in June 2027.

Big guns chase down Villa: Behind Arsenal and City, the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League increasingly looks like a case of three from four.

The strong performance of English sides in European competition is almost certain to mean fifth is enough for Champions League qualification.

Just seven points separate third-placed Villa from Liverpool in sixth.

“It’s the end phase of the season, so results matter more and more,” added Slot.

After defying the odds to keep pace in the title race for most of the season, back-to-back home defeats to Everton and Brentford have Villa looking over their shoulder.

A midfield injury crisis has robbed Emery of captain John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara for the forseeable future.

Villa need to get back to winning ways away at Bournemouth, while United and Chelsea look to maintain their charge up the table.

United host struggling Tottenham looking a fourth consecutive win since Michael Carrick took charge, while Chelsea visit bottom-of-the-table Wolves.

Agence France-Presse