Empire of the Kop
·11 November 2024
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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·11 November 2024
Liverpool couldn’t have asked for a more ideal weekend of Premier League football.
Arsenal and Chelsea ultimately cancelled each other out to ensure a nine-point gap to Arne Slot’s men at the league summit.
The Dutchman also has Fabian Hurzeler to thank for masterminding a remarkable second-half comeback against Manchester City at the Amex Stadium.
The only shame coming out of the weekend (and it’s a minor one at best) is that Liverpool will have to pause fanning the flames of their budding momentum.
(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
It would be foolish to suggest, with the season not even a third of the way through, that the title race is done and dusted.
We’d agree with Paul Merson, of course, that a potential 12-point gap between top spot and Arsenal would make things potentially insurmountable for the Gunners.
As things currently stand, however, it looks to be a genuinely open race.
There’s a hidden danger with every relegation-threatened side immediately after the international break.
Southampton, with only four points and one league win to their name in 2024/25, will certainly be no different in that regard.
That said, and with the greatest of respect, the eye does naturally wander down to our following meeting with Pep Guardiola’s out-of-form City outfit.
We rather suspect the Sky Blues won’t have extended their run of four games lost in a row come their trip to Anfield!
Beyond that, it’s quite a tough-looking set of fixtures with Newcastle appearing to have rediscovered league form with two wins over Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Hopefully, the return of key stars like Alisson Becker from injury can help smooth our transition into December!
* At present
Is it an ideal time to play Tottenham? One might dare say so even after the international break.
Ange Postecoglou’s men have lost three of their last five league fixtures, a set of results which leaves them languishing in mid-table.
They did take a surprise 2-1 win over Manchester City in the League Cup, of course, which perhaps offers some slim hope for their rivals.
Beyond Forest at home in December, our pick of the bunch looks to be Manchester United later in the month. The Red Devils have recovered somewhat under interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy and will have had Erik ten Hag’s replacement, Ruben Amorim, holding the reins from November 11.
There’s not a tonne of time available for the Portuguese head coach to turn United back into serial winners, but the ever-fabled new manager bounce could yet work in Liverpool and Arsenal’s favour.
Arsenal will be looking to build on the relatively stable base of their 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday (November 10) after the international break.
Facing Forest at the Emirates Stadium perhaps isn’t quite as smooth a re-entry into competitive club action as Liverpool’s trip to Southampton, of course.
Likewise, their hosting of Manchester United in the English capital in early December should provide a barometer of the Red Devils’ potential competitiveness ahead of their later meeting with City.