Premier League title race: How Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea stand after latest games | Football News

December 20, 2021 admin

How do Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea fare in the tightest title race in years after the recent round of Premier League games?

City made it eight wins in a row with a convincing victory at Newcastle, while Liverpool and Chelsea were held to draws – meaning the top contenders now sit within six points of each other.

Pep Guardiola’s side were 4-0 winners over Newcastle, Liverpool played out a 2-2 thriller at Tottenham, while Chelsea suffered a second succesive draw in a goalless stalemate at Wolves.

Here, we run through the contenders, their festive schedules, injury lists, stats and more…

Analysis of Sunday’s results: A good weekend for Man City

Sky Sports’ Gerard Brand on Chelsea

“Chelsea weren’t at it on Sunday, and what was surprising was their lack of efforts on goal, just two shots when they’ve been averaging 11 per game this season.

“I think one of the problems is a bit of a lack of consistency in their starting XI recently – and that’s obviously been down to injury and Covid, but also because of the options they have.

“The thing is with options is that on the one hand it keeps people on their toes, it’s squad depth for when they’re in European competition, but they’ve made 60 starting XI changes this season, it’s the most by some distance in the Premier League, it’s 11 more than ‘Fantasy Football’ Pep Guardiola, and 19 more than Liverpool.

“I think they’re firmly the third best team in the Premier League – that’s pretty much evident in all of their attacking and defensive stats. I don’t see them being drawn into a top four battle, to be honest, but Tuchel may need to find some personnel consistency when all of this settles down.”

Sky Sports’ Ben Ransom on Chelsea

“Tuchel just hasn’t been able to get that consistency of selection. He has been denied having Lukaku fit for a large part, but we talk about City losing De Bruyne for a large chunk, and suddenly they can fit someone in like Bernardo Silva who has been one of the best players in the Premier League this season.

“Tuchel is sounding frustrated, he’s bemoaning a lack of luck, but they’ve got to make their luck. That’s his job as manager.”

Sky Sports’ Gerard Brand on Liverpool

“I’ve covered Liverpool maybe a dozen times this season and in every single game they’ve offered the opponent at least four or five decent chances.

“They don’t concede many shots per se, but the quality of the chances they do concede are quite high, and I wonder if it will be their downfall in the title race.

“City are favourites, they’re a machine really, they barely come out of third gear sometimes, and they have the best defensive record again in the Premier League. Don’t get me wrong, Liverpool are the best team to watch because it’s always a game, but their style this season in particular is unapologetically risky.

“I think they’ve actually reverted to the Liverpool of Klopp’s second and third season where they were scoring a lot, conceding quite a few – and people will point to the title win in 2020, but many forget that that Liverpool side were very conventional at times, and I’m not sure they’ve found that style of play – controlling games without risk – consistently since then.

“If this is going to be a 90+ point season, if City are going to hit 90 odd points, Liverpool are going to have many more games like Sunday and I don’t think they’ll reach that points tally.”

Sky Sports’ Ben Ransom on Liverpool

“I think this comes down to personnel. The fact they didn’t have Van Dijk, and the changed midfield three against Spurs, meant they couldn’t get that control as Spurs feasted on that. It also meant that the service up to Salah wasn’t quite as effective.

“I think they will outscore most teams, but the challenge will come in these sorts of games against decent teams.

“But that aside, if AFCON goes ahead, I don’t think Liverpool can win it anyway, without Salah for a handful of games.”

Sky Sports’ Gerard Brand on Man City

“The thing is with City they can just go on 10, 12, 14, 16-game winning runs without causing much of a fuss. It seems bizarre to say about a side that has won four of the last five titles, but they go about their business under the radar.

“It’s not that people forget about City, but they’re so machine-like, they dismantle sides so easily. It’s like: ‘Oh, City have won again, and again.’

“For me, they are definitely favourites. I think Pep has mastered the psychology of this City side, where he reduces outside noise to a minimum.”

Sky Sports’ Ben Ransom on Man City

“City are playing fantastic football again. They’ve gone onto another level in the last couple weeks, which coincides with what we saw of them last year, going on that 21 match winning run.

“Pep knows the players are in tune with what he wants, all tactical shifts from the summer are up to standard, and they look dangerous.

“It’s that ruthlessness which has come synonymous with City’s great sides. There was no chance both Newcastle and Leeds were having any chance because City wouldn’t allow it.

“City are winning, they have momentum, and all of that when they didn’t sign a striker, and that’s worrying for the rest of the Premier League. They look unstoppable at the moment.”

How the table stands

It’s tight at the top. Only six points separate the three sides as we enter the festive tail-end – but Manchester City have extended a one-point lead over Liverpool to three over the past week. Likewise, the Reds are now three points clear of Chelsea.

The title chase

Current form: City pulling away?

Eight in a row for City, but Liverpool six-game win streak ended with the 2-2 thriller at Tottenham. Meanwhile, Chelsea have registered two successive draws to fall six points adrift of the league leaders…

Festive fixtures: Who could stutter?

The busy festive period often separates contenders from also-rans, with three Premier League games in one week.

But who has the hardest run?

Both Liverpool and City have two away games, but Jurgen Klopp’s side also have a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Leicester to navigate, as well as that huge clash at Chelsea on January 2.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have two home games, but also have a Carabao Cup quarter-final vs Brentford on December 22, while all three title contenders face current top-half opposition in two of their three league outings.

Top scorers and creators

Liverpool dominate the top of the goals, shots assists and chances created standings…

Injury lists

Who could be off to AFCON?

The Africa Cup of Nations will run from January 9 to February 6, with 40 Premier League players potentially being called up for duty for the tournament in Cameroon.

Those called up to AFCON could miss at least one Premier League round (weekend of January 15/16), the FA Cup third round (weekend of January 8) and the Carabao Cup semi-finals (w/c January 3 and January 10) in the best-case scenario.

However, depending on when clubs release their players, and how fit they are on return, in the worst case, players could miss four Premier League rounds, both Carabao Cup semi-finals and both the FA Cup third and fourth rounds.

Chelsea players potentially selected: Edouard Mendy (Senegal), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco)

Liverpool players potentially selected: Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (Senegal), Naby Keita (Guinea)

Man City players potentially selected: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)

Watch title race unfold on Sky Sports

Chelsea are at Aston Villa on Boxing Day, live on Sky Sports Premier League at 5.30pm, before their huge home clash with Liverpool on Super Sunday, January 2 at 4.30pm.

Later in January, Man City’s trip to Saints is on Saturday Night Football on January 22 at 5.30pm, before Palace vs Liverpool (2pm) and Chelsea vs Spurs (4.30pm) the following day on Super Sunday.