Al-Ittihad newspaper "City" in search of foxes by "King Power"

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City seeks to make up for defeat in front of Leicester (AFP)

LONDON (AFP)

Liverpool are looking to strengthen their lead when Newcastle and Manchester City are cleared by Leicester City. Manchester United are badured of welcoming Huddersfield today in the 19th round of the English Premier League with Boxing Day.
Liverpool was the main beneficiary of the last phase, with 4 points in the lead, taking advantage of the loss of the direct hunt to Manchester City champions at Crystal Palace 2-3.
Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal beat the top four as the Premier League entered a three-phase tournament between mid-week and mid-term, beating Everton 6-2 and Burnley 3-1, taking advantage of Chelsea's loss to Lester City.
Liverpool is looking to be a good candidate to continue his winning streak and bring his total to eight, knowing that Newcastle is humiliated and struggling to survive under former Spanish coach Rafael Benitez, who failed during his 2004 campaign -2004. There is a strong feeling that Liverpool could be crowned with the title that has been pursuing it since 1990, although recent history gives conflicting messages as to whether this is going to happen or not.
The good news for Liverpool is that in eight of the past ten seasons, league leaders have managed to win the title at the end of the season. The bad news is that Liverpool is the team that has failed in the last ten seasons to win the title after Christmas, The first season 2008-2009 was led by Benitez while the title went to Manchester United and the second by Brendan Rodgers (Northern Ireland) in 2013-2014, the year the title was won by Manchester City.
But his current coach, Juergen Klopp, stressed that he was trying to focus on the present, recognizing that his team would be released after 18 stages without a loss, which did not mean in any way guarantee the title.
"You will see the media," he said. "They tell the story of those who are in the competition and those who are outside," adding that the season is long and that all possibilities are still possible.
Liverpool is well aware of the importance of their meeting with Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester City on Saturday, and aims to win all three points to keep at least four points behind Manchester City in search of compensation after the sudden defeat. In front of Crystal Palace, their second season and in the last three games.
"I have to play our games and earn as many points as possible," he said.
The Spanish Josep Guardiola will not be able to facilitate the return of Leicester City to London at the expense of Chelsea with a goal from international striker Jamie Farde.
Second visit of Manchester City to King Power in a week, where they found themselves in the quarterfinals of the Cup of the Association. City won the penalty shootout 3-1 after a 1-1 draw in the original time, in a match missed by the most prominent stars.
It is certain that the current face of the two teams will be completely different from the previous one, in particular Manchester City, who asked the three points to remain close to Liverpool and to keep the second place, under the pressure of the big face of Tottenham III, to two points of the net. He plays at home in front of Bournemouth.
Guardiola is expected to repay Belgian players Kevin de Bruen and Sergio Aguero of Argentina in the match after getting enlisted in the reserves against Crystal Palace when the Belgian scored the second goal without losing his team.
Guardiola expressed his dissatisfaction after the defeat by saying: "It's football, 3 shots to goal, 3 goals in reference to Crystal Palace attempts."
"It was not necessary to give the penalty to Crystal Palace," he said, referring to the fatal mistake of defender Kyle Walker, author of the third goal. "We must avoid making such mistakes," he said.
Chelsea are no different from Manchester City, hoping to recover from a surprise defeat by Leicester City, the second of their last four games, by playing against Watford VII in a relatively difficult match after he restored his balance and won two consecutive victories.
Arsenal, in fourth place, hopes to confirm its return to the winning streak following two consecutive defeats against Chelsea after a 13th loss to Brighton. The same is true for Manchester United, which is seeking to confirm the return of former coach and former Norwegian star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his first match at Old Trafford after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho.
Solskjaer struck hard in his first game at the helm of his former team, leading to a big victory in Cardiff City 5-1 in the first game. The Red Devils have scored five goals since the friendly match of their legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson West Bromwich Albion 2 – 2 in May 2013.
In addition to Solskjaer's good start, this victory allowed the club to reduce the gap to 8 points from fourth place.
In the remaining games, Fulham will play against Wolverhampton, Crystal Palace with Cardiff City, Burnley and Everton, and the match will end Saturday with Southampton meeting with West Ham.