Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has said that Liverpool have been “phenomenal” to keep pace with Manchester City at the top of the table with the squad depth Pep Guardiola has at his disposal.
The two north west giants have traded blows over the season in the hunt for the Premier League title, with just two points currently separating the pair as they head into the final stretch of fixtures.
However, while City might be able to rotate their squad game by game, Merson insists Liverpool cannot do that and that makes their achievements this season even greater.
He told Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (06/04, 12:06): “When you watch Liverpool play and then you watch Man City play, one team blows teams away, the other is struggling at the minute to win.
“I can’t talk highly enough, to go the whole season so far, to go toe to toe with a phenomenal football club who can rest players. (Leaving out four stars) Liverpool couldn’t do that in their wildest dreams and they’ve got to do that for 38 games.
“It’s phenomenal. Man City will have to win it the hard way. If Man City go on to win it now you’ll thing: ‘You’re good. You’re better than what we think you really are.'”
Opinion
It might be a little disrespectful to the squad players at Anfield but you can understand where Merson is coming from with his verdict. Would you rather have Divock Origi or Roberto Firmino leading the line? Simon Mignolet or Alisson between the sticks? Liverpool do have quality on the bench but not enough to be able to swap week in, week out like City have been this season. With just a couple more games left to play the Reds will be hoping that their star men can see out the season without any fitness or injury concerns – otherwise their title hopes could well go down the drain. As for City, they know they have a replacement for nearly everyone in the starting XI but with more games to play in an arguably tougher run than Liverpool, Guardiola has got to balance the rotation of his team carefully. Too many changes and it could all come toppling down.
