Like any Liverpool fan, it took me a few days to gain perspective after the disappointing loss to Arsenal. But the reality of the result is that only one team left the Emirates with the power to win the title and it wasn’t Mikel Arteta’s men. Beat the odds for Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp needs to beat Manchester City and control his side when they come to Anfield next month. But the truth is much the same. If you win all the matches, the manager will sign the Premier League trophy.
Mainly because of bitter experience, Liverpool and Manchester City are operating on the assumption that they won’t lose any more points to each other. Klopp also doesn’t want his players to believe the best. Now victory is still in his hands. But I couldn’t help myself. We’ve heard Pep Guardiola pick his team for Brentford, hoping to lend a helping hand.In many ways it was the same old formula. As always, these expectations will kill you as a Liverpool fan.
I was a little delighted when Neil Maupai put Brentford ahead to give the visitors a 3-1 win. However, Manchester City seem to offer such glimmers of hope these days. They are now on an unusual winning streak, and although wins have now become the standard result, it is harder than usual to imagine the season ending safely. Manchester City are likely to start with Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne together for the first time in months, both sidelined by long-term injuries.
Despite being the weakest, Guardiola also brought in Phil Foden and Julián Alvarez to create a squad with plenty of attacking prowess on paper. But Brentford’s stubborn defense kept them at bay with relative ease in the opening 45 minutes, with Guardiola’s side largely restricted to long-range attacks. The mental strain was evident when Foden equalized with Ethan Pinnock’s header just before the break, but Manchester City were sweating it out to do what really mattered to them.
Before that, Brentford had chances to extend their lead from a particularly dangerous run of corners in the first half. The first half started badly as Foden put Manchester City ahead but the famous league leaders made no mistake after giving their defense something to do.
Only Ruben Diaz’s crucial block prevented Brentford from finding an equaliser, and it was one of several late interventions. Manchester City clearly had more possession and continued to threaten, but they looked able to counter-attack with relative ease and only settled down when Foden scored the third goal.
Darwin Nunes would love to feature in Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City at Anfield next month. Brentford will continue to fall into the trap and Guardiola is unlikely to come up with a simple plan as long as Virgil van Dijk and Alisson avoid further disaster. route.
