Weekend recap: City frustrate Liverpool with narrow win as Man Utd blow top 4 hopes

The second part of our weekend recap looks at how Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United did over the weekend…

Liverpool

Liverpool beat Huddersfield 5-0 on Friday night to return back to the top of the Premier League table – albeit temporarily. Naby Keita opened the scoring after just 15 seconds when Liverpool’s press caught Huddersfield out. The Terriers know how strongly Liverpool press, so it was unbelievable that they were messing around with the ball in their own defence so early on. It was 3-0 at half-time, with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah scoring before the break. Those two scored another one each in the second half to turn the game into a real rout.

While the win moved the Reds back into first in the table, Manchester City’s win against Burnley on Sunday meant they dropped back down to second. It’s so disheartening for Liverpool. They’re doing so well and win game after game, but so do City. Liverpool have won their last 10 games in all competitions; seven of those in the league. But City have won 12 in a row in the league since losing at Newcastle in January.

Liverpool need to ensure they win their last two games of the season – away to Newcastle and at home to Wolves – and hope that City slip up. Pep Guardiola’s men host Leicester next weekend before a trip to Brighton on the final day. Hope is slipping away, but they must keep going. The bookmakers have City as the heavy favourites to land the title so it’s worth using a bet365 bonus code if you’re going to back Liverpool to pip Guardiola’s men. Liverpool are next in action on Wednesday when they travel to Barcelona for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Manchester City

Manchester City once again dropped below Liverpool in the table on Friday night but took care of business and returned to the top when they beat Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon. Sergio Aguero scored the only goal of the game after 63 minutes when his strike went in despite Matt Lowton’s best efforts to clear it off the line. It was so close it required the goal-decision system, with that showing it went less than three centimeters over the line. It wasn’t a Manchester City performance that we’ve become accustomed to, but results are really all that matter at this stage of the season. Once they get over the line they can deal with not being as fluid as they like.

Their next test comes next Monday night when they host Leicester at the Etihad. They’ll have to fancy their chances in that game, though. Leicester are a very talented side with a lot of good players, and they’ll likely be fearless at the Etihad and try to win the game. But that may play into City’s hands, as they would likely enjoy a more open game. They’ll feel they have more than enough firepower to put Leicester away. Still, they have to be at their very best if they’re going to retain their crown. It’ll go to the wire regardless, and City have been really pushed by Liverpool.

Manchester United

Manchester United will be disappointed with how the weekend went. With Tottenham and Arsenal both losing, they had a big chance to make a late push for the top four when they played Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday. They took the lead through Juan Mata after 11 minutes, but another David de Gea blunder saw Marcos Alonso equalise just before half time. United were excellent for large parts of the first half but really struggled to match that in the second. The game finished 1-1 and it looks as though their hopes of finishing in the top four are over, as they now trail Chelsea, who are fourth, by three points with just two games remaining, while Chelsea have a much better goal difference.

Even if they fail to finish in the top four, they can be proud of how they’ve fought over the last few months. It looked as though finishing in the top four was impossible after Jose Mourinho left them in tatters before he was sacked, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought them really close. There’s a rebuilding job to be done during the summer, and how money is spent could shape Solskjaer’s future. A couple of their so-called star players are rumoured to want to leave Old Trafford in the summer. But with the way some of them have conducted themselves this season, maybe losing a few wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Regardless of how they’ve done over the past few months, it’s clear that Manchester United are a long way from the top. It’s going to take more than throwing money at players for them to get near Manchester City and Liverpool. It could still be some years before we see the Red Devils back at the top of English football.

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This article was written by PremPlace. You can see their website by clicking here.