The Week That Is – The Big Ones (Part 1)

Article by e-Liverpool Correspondent Tony Thorne

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“Believe you can and you're halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt

There’s no doubt now that Liverpool believe. There’s five games left of the season and Liverpool sit top of the pile. Liverpool have never, in the history of the Premier League, been top and had the fate of the title in their own hands with five games to go. Liverpool fans now have more belief than the previous best top flight effort back in 2009, when vying with Manchester United for the title.

And so it turns to the big one. Nerves held with the tricky fixture away at West Ham and even a goal that should never have been for West Ham could not stop us. Liverpool’s current undefeated streak is even threatening WWE’s Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

But all streaks are made to be broken, and Manchester City are on their own rich vein of form. Unbeaten in the Premier League since Chelsea narrowly secured a 1-0 victory at the start of February, City are building themselves back to the point they were at in December, when they seemed indestructible. Having said that, Liverpool nearly beat them at the Etihad, losing out 2-1 due to a mistake from Simon Mignolet on Boxing Day, not to mention a legitimate goal ruled out for a poor offside decision.

That day Liverpool’s football was impressive. No team had gone to the Etihad and performed like that all season. Vincent Kompany has even admitted in the press that Liverpool are the best team City have played all season.

 

So how to tackle the big one? How to keep the streak alive? Brendan Rodgers would surely be foolish to re-adopt the 4-3-3 approach against a side that demonstrated in a 4-1 win against a quality Southampton team how they can counter-attack through sparse midfield areas. Does the diamond midfield with Raheem Sterling at the attacking tip and Suarez and Sturridge manning the flanks defensively come in to play? I would argue this is Liverpool’s best opportunity for success.

A victory would be huge, cementing Liverpool’s place at the top of the Premier League and cancelling Manchester City’s game in hand advantage. City still have to play at Everton, who could be fighting for a top four place, and Liverpool welcome Chelsea in the next home game following the visit of the Citizens. The run in for the league title is closer than ever and these games all matter even more than expected at the start of the season.

Liverpool need to continue their streak. With two huge opponents in coming weeks, they need to hope that it doesn’t go the way of the aforementioned Undertaker. He lost after 24 years at Wrestlemania last week. Let’s hope the reverse is true for Liverpool and the Premier League title.

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