Liverpool and Manchester City - Two of the greatest teams in the Premier League era are all set to go head to head to claim the coveted crown.
In the first few sets of fixtures, one thing seems to be certain in the minds of fans and pundits alike- Liverpool and Manchester City are the red hot favorites to take the title home. Last season Liverpool broke several records on their way to winning the league after 30 years.
During the 2018/19 season, Manchester City and Liverpool went toe to toe in the Premier League, with City edging out Liverpool by a single point.
We take a look at the reasons why the Premier League 2020/21 season seems to be heading for a two-horse title race between the clubs -
Two of the best Managers at helm:
Per Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have taken their rivalry from Germany to England and the rivalry hasn’t disappointed one bit. Pep Guardiola has evolved from his tiki taka style and adapted to the Premier League with a different style of play. He has managed to get the best out of the talented attacking players at the club which has given the club a new identity. His use of inverted full backs and utilizing Kevin De Bruyne perfectly has further solidified his reputation as the world’s best. On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp with his heavy metal football has won fans all over the world. Winning the Champions League and Premier League is no mean feat in today’s day and age. With his personality and brilliant man management Jurgen Klopp looks to create a dominating Liverpool side for years to come.
Lack of competition from other teams:
In the 2019/20 Premier League season, Manchester United and Chelsea took the 3rd and 4th spots respectively with Leicester City finishing in 5th place and missing out on the lucrative Champions League. For Manchester United, the transfer window has not gone exactly as planned and their pursuit of Jadon Sancho seems to go right down to the wire. With problems in defence and lack of title winning experience, Manchester United would do well just to finish in the UEFA Champions League spots this season too. On the other hand, Chelsea have splurged more than 200 million dollars in the transfer market but the main question remains: How can so many new signings gel up quickly and effectively? As a manager, Frank Lampard doesn’t have the title winning pedigree as yet of his Liverpool and Manchester City counterparts.
Others teams like Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are still finding their feet under their new managers and a title challenge seems quite early for the North London rivals.
Transfer activity key to success:
One thing Liverpool were missing dearly was a creative midfielder in their side and they went ahead and addressed the problem with the acquisition of Thiago from Bayern Munich. The Spaniard looks all set to take the Premier League by storm with his passing, dribbling and tenacity. If the Thiago deal wasn’t enough to excite the Liverpool faithful, they went ahead and bought Diogo Jota from Wolves to add much needed depth in the attacking third.
On the other hand, Manchester City replaced Leroy Sane with the Spanish winger Ferran Torres from Valencia to provide cover for the likes and Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez. During last season, Manchester City dearly missed Aymeric Laporte for a large duration with 34 year old Fernandinho deputizing in defence. With the purchase of Nathan Ake from Bournemouth, Pep Guardiola seems to have addressed the problems in defence. Also, Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli continues to be a target and if the transfer deal goes through, Manchester City could be impenetrable in defence which was their major area of concern last season.
The Premier League season has just begun but the clear favorites – Manchester City and Liverpool look all set to go head to head in what seems to be a thrilling season of Football amid the global pandemic.
