Rolling Stone India Pitch: Who Catches Liverpool Now?

Matchday 12 of the Premier League saw Arsenal’s problems increase after losing to Leicester City, Chelsea and Manchester United both registered wins, Tottenham Hotspur dropped points at home to Sheffield United, Liverpool stay on course to win the championship after beating title rivals Manchester City and more.

Even though it might be too early to say that Liverpool has the Premier League titled sealed up after they cruised to a 3-1 victory over Manchester City at Anfield, the question now asked is who can catch The Reds that are now eight points clear at the top. The European champions scored two goals inside the first 15 minutes to put City on the back foot with a wondrous strike from Fabinho and a superb counter-attack finished by Mohammed Salah. Sadio Mane scored early in the second half from a Jordan Henderson cross while City’s Bernardo Silva got one back for the champions but it was too little too late.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, told BBC 5 Live after the match, “What a game. If you want to win against City you have to do something special and we had to be intense. When City started to control it more in the last 15 minutes, it was tense, but then you saw the quality and what the boys can do. The boys did 75 minutes of unbelievable stuff.” City coach Pep Guardiola said on BBC 5 Live, “We played an incredible performance, I don’t know how many teams can come to this stadium and play the way we did. They scored with the first shot on target, but we played incredibly well.” He added, “There are three teams that have more chances to win the Premier League than us. We’re in November so let’s see what happens.”

Those other teams that Guardiola mentions “have more chances” are the likes of the 2016 and 2017 champions Leicester City and Chelsea who both now sit in second and third place respectively on equal points and one ahead of Man City. Leicester saw off out of form Arsenal 2-0 with striker Jamie Vardy scoring for the 11th time this season while Chelsea registered a 2-0 win themselves against Crystal Palace.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard seems to have struck quite a strong balance with the youth and experienced players in his side. He said, “They [the young players] are a big part of the team. The older players help the younger ones but they have to realize very quickly what this level is because it’s tough. The way they work daily and approach games is great. Can we replicate that through a longer period, that’s the test.”

Other results this past weekend included Manchester United’s 3-1 victory at home to Brighton. Goals for the Red Devils came through Andreas Pereira, Marcus Rashford and an own goal by Brighton’s Davy Pröpper. Over in London, Tottenham was held to a 1-1 draw by newly-promoted Sheffield United which now sees them languishing in 14th place. Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino said to the BBC, “We knew very well how they play, they got a draw at Chelsea and they are playing so well. The most difficult thing for us was to match their energy.”

With the international break taking place this week, the next round of fixtures are scheduled in a fortnight. Matchday 13 will see Tottenham Hotspur take on West Ham United, Arsenal host Southampton, Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Chelsea go head to head at the Etihad Stadium, Sheffield United welcome Manchester United and more.