Spurs put in huge dent in The Red’s league campaign
Yesterday’s bout between Tottenham and Liverpool was certainly a spectacle: Rafa waved his glasses around like a mentalist, a rousing chant of “You’re supposed to be in jail” rang around White Hart Lane as Steven Gerrard took his penalty and Tottenham fans were left with an extremely familiar feeling of over-confidence concerning the season ahead.
While most of us are delighted to welcome the drama of the Premier League back into our lives, there are some pangs of discomfort on Merseyside right now. Last season, Liverpool lost out on the title by four points, having lost just two games. Thanks to Tottenham’s impressive performance, they now go into the remainder of the season on the back foot.
On Friday, Fernando Torres told us that “it is games like Sunday’s at Tottenham where we need to show our real title intentions”. Did they do exactly that? Or is there still league winning potential in the Spaniard’s side?
Nando, Reira and the gang turn up the heat in the title race
Despite smashing Fulham 4-0 a couple of weeks ago, Manchester Utd were unable to escape from Craven Cottage with any points or dignity at the weekend. This - coupled with the fact that Liverpool maintained their ‘four goals or more’ policy when Aston Villa visited Anfield yesterday - means a title race that looked sewn up a few weeks ago has been blown wide open.
With a game in hand and an extra point in the bag, Manchester Utd are still in the driving seat, but after a weekend of crazy results, it seems as if anything could happen in the run-in.
So, will Liverpool nab their first ever Premier League title, or will Manchester Utd rediscover their awesome form? Let us know with a vote and comment below…
As Tottenham slowly claw themselves away from the danger zone, some are concerned by a run in that includes Chelsea at home and visits to Old Trafford and Anfield. Harry Redknapp, however, argues that it is good to be playing the title chasers:
Think about it. We have to play Liverpool at Anfield on the last day of the season, Sunday May 24.It might be the stuff of nightmares for fans but a look at my calendar and I see the Champions League final is three days later.
We have to go to Old Trafford next month and, luckily, the following week are the Champions League semi-finals.
It’s squeaky bum time - will Fergie’s men hold on at the top?
Highlights: Manchester Utd 1/ Liverpool 4
Just a few days ago, it looked as if no team in the world could stop Manchester United from taking every trophy in sight, but this weekend on-form Liverpool highlighted their fallibility, handing them their heaviest home defeat in seventeen years (Alex Ferguson still had the gall to claim his side were the better team though).
United remain four points clear with a game in hand, and are the clear favourites with the bookies, but Chelsea and Liverpool are doing everything they can to make the run in as uncomfortable as possible for Fergie’s men.
So, will the Red Devils recover from this glitch to display their trademark end-of-season prowess, or will the Premier League trophy be heading to West London or Merseyside in May?
Reds gaffer not sure whether his side are in the title race
A few weeks ago, the 2008/09 season was shaping up as the most exciting in Premier League history: anyone in the bottom half could have gone down, and the title race was wide open. While the former may still be true, Liverpool’s inability to win league games means the trophy will inevitably fall into the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo et al at the end of the campaign. Rafa Benitez appeared to accept this fate after Saturday’s defeat at Middlesbrough:
“We knew we couldn’t afford to lose or even draw any more if we wanted to fight for the title, so it was a very disappointing weekend.”
Since returning from the north east, however, the slightly mental Spaniard has changed his tune, insisting that the title race is still very much on:
“We must keep going in the title race, to try to win each game as it comes along.
“Now we have the opportunity against Sunderland to do things right, to be able to approach the Real Madrid second leg with confidence. We have to remain positive.”
Arsenal are languishing in fifth place, seventeen points off the pace with twelve Premier League games left to play. Injured midfielder Cesc Fabregas appears to have been informed of this situation, and has today made the shocking announcement that his side may not win the league this year:
“It’s not realistic to look at the league title now. You can never say never but we would not be intelligent to be looking right to the top of the league. To be intelligent now is to go game by game and think about who is directly in front of us.”
In addition to this ‘intelligent’ revelation, Fabregas also revealed that the world is round, cats don’t get along with dogs, and cars need petrol to make them go vroom vroom.
Another Premier League weekend, another disappointing result for Liverpool. Yesterday, the Reds were held to a league draw for the third time in 2009, and are clearly not displaying the form of Premier League champions.
Rafa Benitez insists they will still be in the title race if they win their next three games: Middlesbrough away, Sunderland at home and Manchester Utd at Old Trafford. However, a seven point deficit with twelve games remaining will test the optimism of even the most confident Liverpool supporters.
So, will Liverpool show their mettle and keep fighting the good fight until the end, or has the league title been put out of reach for yet another season? Votes and comments below, please…
Rafa Benitez’s controversial outburst last Friday may have been the first sign of Keegan-esque mental breakdown, or perhaps a Spanish version of Ferguson’s patented mind games. Either way, there was clearly only one winner this weekend, and his head isn’t shaped like a kettle.
While Manchester Utd continued their traditional second-half-of-the-season recovery, league leaders Liverpool failed to take three points from a team who are trying not to slip back into the relegation spot Tottenham have now laid a claim to.
So, will this weekend be recognised as the point where the title started to slip away from Liverpool, or will they keep one of the most exciting title races in years going right up until May? Votes and comments below, please…
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