Manchester City could not have asked for a much better Sunday.
In the afternoon the Blues put in a professional performance to be proud of against potential banana skin opponents Huddersfield Town. Phil Foden’s brace, a goal for a returning Jeremy Doku, Julian Alvarez’s instinctive finish and an own goal sealed a comfortable victory for Pep Guardiola’s men.
Arsenal and Liverpool then faced off in the late kick off and an unfortunate own goal from Jakub Kiwior and Luis Diaz’s late strike was the difference as Jurgen Klopp’s side progressed to the next round of the competition. It offers City a potential double boost.
With the win, Liverpool’s fixtures are now mounting up. On top of the Premier League, the Merseyside club are still competing across three other competitions this year.
With star man Mohammed Salah away on AFCON duty for the foreseeable, Liverpool’s squad is set to be stretched to its limits with a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final and an FA Cup fourth round tie now on the January schedule as well as their top flight commitments.
City are out of the Carabao Cup and are close to welcoming back Kevin de Bruyn, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland to their starting XI. The Blues could have the squad and the schedule to chase down Liverpool.
As for Mikel Arteta’s men, their form continues to suffer and confidence will be dipping just as City’s is rising. Arsenal were top of the table at Christmas but are now behind City in fourth and have now lost three games in a row.
The Blues will move three points clear of Arsenal should they win their game in hand and if the North London club cannot address their current struggles they will slip out of title contention.
City, with their history of coming on strong in the second half of the season, are well placed to capitalise.
