- Liverpool’s title hopes took a big hit after they were held to a draw by Tottenham
- Former striker Peter Crouch says Manchester City will win remaining games
- Rio Ferdinand has claimed Pep Guardiola’s side now have ‘one hand on the title’
- Manchester City side will go three points clear at the top if they beat Newcastle
Former striker Peter Crouch believes the Premier League title is now out of Liverpool‘s grasp following their draw with Tottenham.
Jurgen Klopp‘s side were held to a 1-1 draw by the north London side, having needed Luis Diaz’s deflected strike to cancel out Son Heung-min’s opener.
Crouch said defending champions Manchester City will go on to win their remaining games and clinch the title, and Rio Ferdinand mirrored those views by claiming Pep Guardiola’s side ‘have one hand on the title’.
Liverpool’s title hopes took a big hit after they were held to a draw by Tottenham at Anfield
Peter Crouch (centre) and Rio Ferdinand (left) both believe Man City will go on to win the title
When asked if Liverpool’s title chances are gone, Crouch told BT Sport: ‘I’d have to say yes. The standards these two clubs have set, they don’t lose many, they don’t draw many, you’d expect City to go on and win every game now.
‘We said before the game this could be the potential banana skin because Tottenham defensively they had bodies behind there. What Tottenham have got, lots of teams haven’t got, is three players upfront that can hurt any team and they proved it tonight.’
A win at home to Newcastle will send Guardiola’s side three points clear of Liverpool with three games to go.
And Ferdinand believes City will be buoyed by the Liverpool result despite their Champions League heartache in midweek.
Ferdinand believes City will be buoyed by the Liverpool result despite their Champions League heartache
The former Manchester United defender said: ‘If City win tomorrow I think the momentum shifts straight on to their toes. That game tomorrow is pivotal, they at a really low ebb, really bad way to lose the game.
‘Out of the Champions League, which they were trying to win obviously, and their moral would have been so low. But I think today’s result and then you compound that with a win tomorrow against Newcastle, I think then they got one hand on the title.’
Liverpool will seek to return to winning ways when they take on Aston Villa on Tuesday night. Klopp says his players must recover from Saturday’s disappointment if they are to win at Villa Park.
Jurgen Klopp admitted his players were ‘very disappointed’ with the result but they will keep going
‘First and foremost, (I told them) we should stop behaving like it is a funeral. In my life much worse things happen. If we would have won it wouldn’t increase the possibility we win against Aston Villa, so that is how it is’, the Reds boss said.
‘We will go there, we will prepare and we will try. The only chance we have for things to go our way is to win now. The boys are absolutely in the mood they should be – very disappointed – and that is fine. I would love here to sit here and say: ‘Yes! City will drop points!’ We will see what happens.
‘My problem in this moment is not City against Newcastle. It is that we play Tuesday against Aston Villa, which is tough. We have one point more than before – good! – and from 1-0 down, it is massively better but it was not exactly what we want. We have to deal with it and we will.’
First published in Daily Mail (UK)