Liverpool can end Manchester City’s title hopes with point at Etihad, says Paul Merson
Manchester City’s bid to retain the Premier League title will be over if they do not beat Liverpool on Thursday, says Paul Merson.
City are seven points behind their visitors with another 18 games to play before the end of the season
– and the gap would increase to 10 if Liverpool were to win when the two go head-to-head at the Etihad, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm on January 3.
However, Merson believes Liverpool’s domestic dominance in 2018/19 means even a draw would not be enough for Pep Guardiola’s side to stay in the race to win the Premier League.
He said: „If Liverpool don’t lose at Man City, then that rules City out of the title race. They will be seven points behind if they draw that. Liverpool are unbeaten, and would have to lose three matches before the end of the season – no chance.
„This is a Liverpool team that score plenty of goals and don’t let in any goals. They are relentless. Even if they are having a bad day, they only need one goal. They don’t have to be like Man City and win by three goals. They just get the job done and only need one.
„To beat them you are going to have to score twice, which is a tall order. I don’t see anyone beating them 1-0. As the season goes on, with the Champions League coming back, it does mount up.
„If I was Liverpool I would forget about the Champions League now. They have a chance of making history, where they would all go down as legends after 29 years. They need to put all their eggs in one basket.“
City began the season going 15 games unbeaten, but Merson said three defeats from their last five league matches has had a serious effect on their confidence.
He said: „Manchester City have lost that ruthlessness about them. They’re missing good chances now, I don’t know if the nerves have got to them, the pressure is on them but you look at the other week against Leicester. Sergio Aguero flicked one over the bar, he had another which was an air-shot – that’s not him.
„You watched them against Southampton, under severe pressure, they ripped them apart. It could have been 5-0 after 15 or 20 minutes.
„But when City got in front and couldn’t get a second one, the players start thinking ‘this is easy,’ and then for 15 minutes or so they’re all over the shop.
„Raheem Sterling’s taking eight touches instead of passing, Riyad Mahrez is cutting inside and has a shot himself when he should pass, they’re all doing their own thing.
„When you’ve lost three out of five games, something is going on and your confidence gets majorly dented.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
