Newcastle 3-3 Liverpool: ‘Best game of season’ – draw gives Reds’ Premier League title rivals fresh hope
Historically, Liverpool were already in position to win the title before Wednesday’s kick-off.
After beating Manchester City on Sunday, they are nine points clear of second place after 13 league games.
Only two teams in Premier League history have led by at least nine points after the same number of games – Manchester United in 1993-94 and Chelsea in 2005-06 – and both went on to win the title.
Still, many urge caution in the fight at the top.
Reds boss Arne Slott said before the Newcastle game that 19 games would be a better barometer of the title race, a view only reinforced by the 3-3 draw with Newcastle.
Manchester City’s loss to Liverpool left them 11 points behind the Reds, but it has now been reduced to 9 points, and history shows that they are fully capable of overturning such a gap.
In the 2018-19 season, they were 10 points behind Liverpool after a poor performance in December, but they won 18 of 19 games from the 30th of that month to continue to seal the championship.
Former Manchester City player and manager Stuart Pearce said on Amazon Prime: “I think we know City are not going to withdraw from the title race – they will have a say.”
“There will be a lot of twists and turns in the title race. That’s why the Premier League is so good.”
Former Arsenal striker Theo Walcott added: “That’s where you get a preview of what’s going to happen at the end of the season. It’s a period when you can make up a lot of points.”
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, who won the Premier League title with the club in 2008-09 and 2010-11, said his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson would never talk about the title at this stage of the season.
“He’ll say if we stay number one after Christmas, we’ve won the league,” he told Amazon Prime.
“He’s always very strict at this time of year – ‘stay home, don’t go out’. It’s worth it – it’s about winning the championship at the end of the day.”
