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BEFORE last weekend’s round of fixtures, Guardiola gave his assessment on the early part of the EPL (English Premier League) season. Speaking ahead of his side’s match at Tottenham, the Manchester City boss said there is a five-horse race for the Premier League title.
The famous five: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.
Guardiola is wrong.
Or rather he’s only 40% right. The title race, as I predicted earlier in the season, will likely come down to Pep’s Manchester City versus Liverpool.
Last season, City collected 100 points in winning the league. Manchester United were second – 19 points behind. Liverpool, in fourth, finished 25 points behind the champions.
Klopp spent over £170mil (RM910mil) in the summer to close the gap and it looks like he’s succeeded. Remember too that he spent £75mil (RM402mil) on Virgil van Dijk in January as part of a much needed defensive overhaul.
The German has spent big but he has seemingly spent well. Liverpool look like title contenders now and the squad has a depth that it has lacked for many years. The 2-1 win over Spurs in September was the game that convinced me that Klopp’s men may indeed be able to go all the way. They looked so comfortable in victory.
If Liverpool cut out the bad habit of dropping points against weaker sides, especially at Anfield, then they can expect to find themselves still in the race as the campaign reaches its final stages, what Sir Alex Ferguson used to call ‘squeaky bum time’.
Spurs fans must have experienced some of that as the transfer window closed without their club making a single signing in the summer. Not losing any of their big names offered some consolation but not enough to hope to close their own 23-point gap to City from last season.
They’ve made a better start to this season than I expected – even with Harry Kane looking a little tired and sluggish after the World Cup – but I doubt many Spurs supporters expect to be taking to the streets of London for a title parade in May.
The redevelopment of their stadium is taking longer than expected, forcing Tottenham to play at Wembley for a few extra months. The club’s wait for a Premier League title is going to go on a bit longer as well.
For Arsenal and Chelsea, the big new signings have been in the dugout with both getting new managers in the summer. Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri have made exceptional starts with their respective sides.
Sarri’s Chelsea look fully in tune with the manager’s ideas; at Arsenal the players are still learning their new lines but the script is one that they (and the fans) seem to be enjoying.
For either Emery or Sarri to win the title in their debut season in the league would be quite an incredible feat, especially given the continued strength of Manchester City. Both Arsenal and Chelsea would consider a top four finish and a Champions League place a success for this year.
From that base camp, an assault on the Premier League summit is a more likely proposition.
It’s only two and a half years since Leicester wrote the most incredible fairytale in winning the Premier League, having just escaped relegation the previous season. Today the club are in mourning over the helicopter crash after Saturday’s home match against West Ham.
On board were five people including club president Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. All lost their lives.
Our prayers and sympathies go out to all the families involved and a football club that recently celebrated triumph but now are confronted with tragedy.
Craig Wilkie. Football Writer. Football Coach. Football Fan. Follow him on Twitter @ciwilkie
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