Chris Sutton has nailed his colours to the mast in terms of how he hopes the Premier League title race will materialise, and how he thinks it will finish.
Liverpool currently lead the way in the English top flight, dropping fewer points across their 11 matches so far than second-placed Manchester City have in their last two games alone, with Arne Slot’s team five points clear of the reigning champions and nine ahead of the four clubs currently placing from third to sixth.
The Reds are hoping to prevent Pep Guardiola’s side from winning a fifth successive title, having been the only team other than City to claim the trophy in the past seven years.
Sutton hoping Liverpool (or anyone) can dethrone City
Speaking on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast, Sutton declared that he’d like to see a different champion this year, but he still believes the Etihad Stadium outfit will claw back their current deficit to reign supreme once more.
The ex-Blackburn striker said of Slot: “He’s taken over from one of the greatest managers the Premier League has ever seen and he’s got them into gear and playing well really quickly. Would I make [Liverpool] favourites? No, I’m still going to go with Manchester City but I hope they don’t win it.
“Nothing against them; it’s just that I’m bored with them winning, so I would love to see either Liverpool or Arsenal win it or even Chelsea, but I do think City will find a way. Pep did seem aggravated at the weekend, very aggravated, and that I can only suspect is a good thing.”
Liverpool have big chance to grant Sutton’s wish
With Sutton a largely neutral observer on the Premier League’s current top four (barring one season at Chelsea at the turn of the millennium), Liverpool fans will likely appreciate his preference for the Reds to claim the title instead of Man City extending their ongoing sequence.
Less encouraging is his forecast that Guardiola’s side will arrest their recent slump and overtake us at the top of the table, but Slot’s team will soon have the perfect opportunity to wrestle the race for eventual supremacy firmly in their favour when the top two face off at Anfield on 1 December.
Assuming the current gap between the teams remains as is until then, for LFC to go eight points clear of the champions with a win in that showdown would represent a serious statement of intent, much like the 3-1 victory over City at this juncture of the 2019/20 season which opened up a similar gap.
We’re also hoping Mr Sutton ends up getting his wish and being proven wrong with his title prediction!