BRUTAL
Liverpool will lose title race even if they beat Man City 5-0, claims ex-Red Stan Collymore in stinging assessment
Reds are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League and could extend the gap with victory at the Etihad on Thursday
STAN COLLYMORE believes Liverpool will fail to win the Premier League - even if his former side beat Manchester City 5-0 on Thursday.
The Reds sit top of the league, seven points clear of the reigning champions and nine ahead of Tottenham in third.
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But ahead of the crunch clash at the Etihad this week, Collymore is still unconvinced Liverpool can hold on.
In his column, he said: "Even if Liverpool were to beat Manchester City 5-0 at the Etihad on Thursday, I’d still have Pep Guardiola’s men down as my favourites to win the title.
"Whether or not it will be enough to win them the title, it’s still too early to tell. But if my old club are ten points clear come mid-to-late March or into early April then I might just allow myself to start thinking it really is going to happen."
Liverpool travel to City on Thursday looking to extend their unbeaten start to the campaign to 21 matches.
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Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne is a doubt for the game after missing the victory over Southampton with a knock.
And with both Benjamin Mendy and Fabien Delph unavailable at left-back, the relatively inexperienced Oleksandr Zinchenko may fill in once more as he tries to stop Liverpool's front three.
Guardiola's team have experience of winning the league, of course, and Collymore reckons that will prove crucial.
The ex-striker - who spent two years at Anfield - added: "City have the capacity and capability to easily put together a run of 15 games unbeaten and while Liverpool themselves are unbeaten in 20 Premier League matches, it still nags me that a ten-point lead — as it would be by Friday — could quickly be eroded with so much football still to be played.
De Bruyne, Silva and Fernandinho must show Man City are not out of title race
By DAVE KIDD
IT’S a squad game now, of course.
It’s all about tinkering, resting, rotating, juggling egos, keeping everyone out of the burn-out ‘red zone’ and having the strongest bench.
That’s how you win a Premier League title in the modern era, right?
Well, not really no.
It still tends to be about knowing your best XI, keeping them fit and starting them for the vast majority of games.
That’s even true for Manchester City, with the most expensive squad ever assembled in English football.
And particularly in midfield, where for all the oil in Abu Dhabi, power rests with the club’s undisputed holy trinity of Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
Largely due to De Bruyne’s two knee injuries, this tick-tock trio have not started together once in the league this term.
And City boss Pep Guardiola will be desperate to have his Belgian back so those three can be reunited in Thursday’s blockbuster against leaders Liverpool.
"City have had their wobble now and we know they have such a good squad. Liverpool, on the other hand, haven’t encountered any problems yet this season and we don’t know how they will respond when the inevitable slip does come. Positively, I’d imagine, but none of us can say for sure.
"I know Klopp doesn’t believe Liverpool’s lack of title-winning experience counts against them, but I’m not so sure.
"City know how to close out a season and know they’re capable of doing it, so the pressures on whichever side is leading in March or April will be significantly different.
"For City, it will only come from within and, while that’s still a big pressure, it’s not the same sort of weight Liverpool would encounter as they closed in on the club's first title since 1990, with it coming from every angle.
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"Spotlights will be turned on Liverpool’s players from all corners of the globe and no one can say with any certainty that they will respond in the best possible way. Hopefully, they will.
"What I can say for sure at this stage of the season is that I prefer watching Liverpool at their best to City at theirs."
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