Everything Still to Play For in the EPL

With just over a month left in the Premier League, there is action and the top and bottom ends of the table with a two-horse race for the title and some big names at risk of relegation. With so much going on, the betting market has been hotting up as fans try to predict the outcome of games and the season. Sites like oddschecker that publish football tips have been in overdrive trying to keep up with everything that’s going on. 

That pace will likely continue for the next few weeks too as the fight between two teams from the north of England attempt to take the biggest prize in English football. This season looked like it was going to be another cakewalk for Manchester City, but Liverpool have fought back and got themselves in the contention for it. In March and April, the two have been mostly neck and neck, with the reds actually going to the top of the table for a brief period. 

But ultimately, only one can finish on top. So in 2022, will Liverpool or Manchester be celebrating?

Liverpool’s 2021/22 Premier League Season

Liverpool started its 2021/22 title challenge with a 3-0 win against Norwich City and then followed it up with a 2-0 win against Burnley a week later. 

The Kopites’ next game was at home to Chelsea and saw Alisson lose his first clean sheet of the season with a 1-1 draw. This was a match that Liverpool should have won, their London rivals went down to ten men just before the end of the first half, had only one third of the possession, and made only six shots in the entire game. Yet, despite the deck being stacked heavily in their favour, Liverpool only managed to salvage a solitary point from the game when Mo Salah netted a penalty at 45+5. 

A 3-3 draw away to Brentford was another blip, but the Reds got back on track with two 5-0 victories, the first away to Watford, and then another at the Theatre of Dreams against Manchester United. 

It was here that the club began to drop some important points, drawing 2-2 against Brighton, losing 3-2 to West Ham, drawing 2-2 against Tottenham, and losing 1-0 to Leicester City. The New Year started with a draw against Chelsea, but Klopp’s men have turned it around since then, having gone unbeaten in the Premier League for three months after it. 

The problem that Liverpool now have is that they remain on the back foot as Manchester City managed to get a head start on them earlier in the season. They can’t slip up for the rest of the season if they want to regain the Premier League title. 

They’ve shown that they can do that, having gone unbeaten for months, so it is not an impossible task. Klopp also has his entire squad available to him, with no injuries or suspensions, giving him plenty of depth. 

Liverpool have one ace card up their sleeve should the season remain as close as it has been for the last few weeks. The club has built an impressive goal different of +57 from its first 30 games thanks to a string of high-scoring matches. At five more than City, they should be able to maintain that until the end of the year. 

Having this goal difference would grant Klopp and his men the Premier League title if the two teams finish level on points, something that is a distinct possibility with the way this season is going. 

Manchester City’s 2021/22 Premier League Season

Manchester City were the favourites going into this season and they remain the favourites now. They’ve been here before and have proven themselves capable of withstanding the immense pressure that comes with a title challenge. 

City also have the advantage of knowing they’ve resisted a last-minute bid for glory from Liverpool before, having pipped them to the 2018/19 Premier League title by a single point. 

Unlike their rivals from the other end of the M62, City started the season with a loss away to Tottenham. They more than made up for this in their following few games, though, smashing both Norwich City and Arsenal 5-0, and then beating Leicester 1-0.

The rest of 2021 was mostly plain sailing for the team, with a blip in the match against Crystal Palace which saw them lose 2-0 after Aymeric Laporte was sent off at the end of the first half. 

Since the New Year, the sky blues have, for the most part, maintained this pace, losing points on just two occasions, the first in a 1-1 draw against Southampton, and another loss to Tottenham. 

For many pundits, this season is City’s to lose, not only because they’ve been leading for most of the year, but also because they now have a relatively easy set of games coming up. The most difficult of these will be West Ham, but City did also beat them 2-1 last time they met in November.

The team’s other games include Leeds, Newcastle, and Aston Villa, which should be a relatively easy nine points. 

However, Pep Guardiola is also short a couple of players. Rúben Dias has been out since early March due to an injury, while Cole Palmer is also out with an ongoing injury that has prevented him from training. It shouldn’t be a critical problem for the team, but it does give Guardiola a few less options for their upcoming games. 

Being behind on goal difference means City can’t afford to drop any points in the final few weeks as they need to be ahead by at least one, whereas Liverpool could get away with just remaining equal.