OPINION
What a title race we have on our hands – the kind of breathless, gargantuan battle that has lurched from side to side and looks dead set to go all the way down to the wire.
A topsy-turvy week of action continued with Manchester City easing their way to a 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Wednesday night, meaning that once again they leapfrogged Liverpool to the top of the table.
That was City’s game in hand, and now both teams know where they stand as they prepare for the final run in.
City sit one point clear at the top with a vastly superior goal difference, but who will win the title is really anybody’s guess.
That hasn’t stopped Pep Guardiola from doing his best to pile the pressure on Jurgen Klopp’s men though.
Speaking after the win over the Bluebirds, the manager was quick to suggest that Liverpool still held a strong initiative in the race for the crown.
As quoted by Sky Sports, he said: “We have the feeling that if we drop points we will not be champions.
“I don’t know what condition we are going to arrive in (against Brighton) but against Cardiff we should have scored more goals definitely, that is a little bit of regret we have.”
This is very clever from Guardiola. The self-deprecating tone and the implication that Liverpool will win all of their remaining matches really cranks up the pressure at Anfield and makes it seem that anything less would be a failure.
The Reds’ footballing credentials have never been in doubt this season, but their mental strength as they look for a first title in 29 years has been a point of much discussion.
You would, on paper, expect Liverpool to beat any of the sides they face in their remaining fixtures on any given day. By emphasising this point, Pep is really setting up his rivals for a fall.
Even a single draw will now be viewed as a crisis.
It’s subtle, but the mind games are well and truly underway.
