It feels like one final twist in fascinating Premier League season is still to come
Man City held by West Ham, Liverpool must beat Southampton to remain in the title race
This season’s Premier League title race has had more twists than a pretzel factory but we could be getting one last huge one as the campaign draws to a close.
Star-studded Manchester City and Liverpool have been neck-and-neck at the top of the table for months. Defending champions City hold the advantage for now but it can all still change.
Liverpool have been given a massive boost in their bid to be crowned champions after the leaders could only draw against West Ham United. The point puts Pep Guardiola’s men 4 points ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s chasers.
Must win match
It could have been 6 had Riyad Mahrez not fluffed his lines from the penalty spot. And with a far better goal difference than the Merseysiders the title should have been heading to the Etihad. Instead, after the thrilling 2-2 draw - that incidentally saw West Ham qualify for Euopean football once again - all is still to play for.
Three days after winning the FA Cup with a penalty shootout triumph over Chelsea, Klopp and co face a trip to Southampton and they simply must win to take the race into the final week of the campaign.
If they do get 3 points then they will cut the gap at the top to just 1 point. City’s last game is against Aston Villa while Liverpool will play Wolves. If City win that then they will be champions. But they are suddenly looking a little rusty and found themselves 2-0 down at the London Stadium with Jarrod Bowen twice finding the net for West Ham.
They looked rather disjointed in the first 45 and were fortunate not to go into half time further behind. David Moyes had set his team up to play on the front foot and to get the ball into the box as early as possible and the plan unsettled Guardiola’s troops who were missing key defenders Ruben Dias, John Stones and Kyle Walker through injury.
Missed penalty
Their makeshift defence was easily cut open on the counter-attack but they managed to claw their way back with Jack Grealish and an own goal from Vladimir Coufal. All 3 points looked to be heading back to Manchester but Mahrez saw his penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski. And that miss could prove massive as it has opened the door for Liverpool to complete an unprecedented quadruple.
The Reds have a lot of work to do though starting at the St Mary’s stadium and a win would mean that the title race will again go down to the final day. And we could be set for a dramatic conclusion.
If City slip up against Villa - who are managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard - and Klopp’s men beat Wolves, then the title heads to Anfield.