Man City hand over their crown to Liverpool
Manchester City’s Premier League crown was officially passed to Liverpool on Thursday night. Can the Reds celebrate with a win at the Etihad? Have a read of our preview here:
Injuries took their toll on City title defence
Man City came into the 2019/20 campaign expecting to make a decent fist of defending their Premier League crown after pipping Liverpool to the title last season but, as it turned out, they were ill-equipped to do so.
The squad was replete with the usual quality and Kevin De Bruyne was superb again, but they lacked depth in defence which proved their undoing.
The loss of John Stones and Vincent Kompany’s departure were sorely felt before Oleksandr Zinchenko also spent a lengthy spell on the treatment table.
City didn’t cope well and have lost eight games this season with seven still to play when they only lost five during the entire 2018/19 campaign.
They will want to dampen Liverpool’s party and maintain some dignity against the side that has been relentless in their chase for a title and have now got it in the bag.
Next season may also be tricky if City fail to appeal their Champions League ban, while star men like Bernardo Silva could be tempted by offers from abroad.
Time will tell if City can bounce back and challenge Liverpool again next season, but they will be glad to see the back of this one, that’s for sure.
Champions at last
It has been a long wait and the celebrations will have been dampened due to the global pandemic, but it is hardly likely to take the shine off Liverpool’s first-ever Premier League title.
It has been a foregone conclusion for a while, but everyone associated with the Reds will be delighted to get it over the line.
Jurgen Klopp has been a man on a mission ever since he arrived on Merseyside and the charismatic German has brilliantly assembled one of the best footballing sides this country has ever seen.
They have depth in every department, a goalkeeper in Alisson who has kept more clean-sheets that he has conceded goals, a commanding centre-back in Virgil van Dijk and an attacking trident of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane who have ripped up all in their path.
No one can suggest they don’t deserve it, they really do. Now all they need to do is repeat it regularly over the next decade to make this a dynasty to rival those of old.
Manchester City v Liverpool betting tip
Man City will be desperate not to lose in order to maintain some dignity as they hand over the trophy to Liverpool but this Reds side is formidable. With that in mind, we are backing Liverpool draw no bet in this one at odds of 2.48 with 888sport.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
Liverpool were humbled 4-0 to remind everyone that this team is human after all