Paul Merson has claimed that Liverpool will have one hand on the Premier League title if they beat Manchester City on Sunday.
The Sky Sports pundit admitted it winds him up when other people say it is too early to predict that because the league starts in August and every game has equal amounts of importance.
Merson believes that if Pep Guardiola’s side loses at Anfield, then they will be better off switching their attention to trying to win the Champions League this season.
“People say it’s early in the season but that argument winds me up,” he wrote on Sky Sports.
“The league starts in August, every game is of vital importance and if Liverpool move nine points clear it would probably be in City’s best interest to turn their attention to winning the Champions League.”
Both the Reds and City needed last-gasp winners to beat Aston Villa and Southampton respectively to set up Sunday’s clash in Merseyside.
OPINION
To go against Merson, it is quite early to say the title would almost be Liverpools. Just look at last season, the Reds had a significant gap at the top of the table and managed to lose it by a single point on the final day of the campaign. Jurgen Klopp’s side drew way too many games in that disappointing end, and the German will know that, which makes the last-second winner over Villa even sweeter, and that will definitely give his side a massive boost. Manchester City have frozen at Anfield before as well, and have struggled to overcome the barrier of going to the North West and leaving with all three points. The atmosphere down Anfield Road will be a major key to the game and could be a factor that sees Liverpool take the upper hand into one of their biggest games in Premier League history. Liverpool must not panic though, a defeat is not the be-all and end-all in the league, as they will still have some sort of a gap. The Reds need to play their usual free-flowing attacking game and play with freedom, and that could cause City real problems.
