It was another big evening in the Premier League title race last night, as Liverpool slipped to second in the table.
In truth, with both Arsenal and Manchester City playing at home, there was little hope that either would make a mess of their Wednesday night fixtures. And so it proved.
Liverpool are going to have to respond this evening as Sheffield United come to town. With the likes of Curtis Jones back in contention to play, you’d back them to do that.
If they can get the three points, it’ll be another Premier League game week to tick by with the Reds top of the pile. After tonight, there’ll be just eight more left to go.
Things are still in Liverpool’s hands, but there’s enough time to make that largely irrelevant. With three teams all neck-and-neck, it’s impossible to call. Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott has had a go at predicting it anyway, though.
Theo Walcott predicts Premier League title race
Having been an Arsenal player across 12 years, you’d imagine that this would be pretty cut and dry. Walcott is surely backing his old club to win a first title in two decades, right?
Wrong. He may have been a Gunner during his playing days, but as a boyhood Liverpool fan, Walcott’s ties to the Reds go back even further.
So, when asked to named his title favourites on the BBC’s Planet Premier League podcast, maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear the 35-year-old plump for the Reds.
“I haven’t changed my view from day one. I went for Liverpool anyway. Some people might not believe it but I genuinely did,” Walcott insisits.
“Watching them at the weekend against Brighton, the goal difference is going to be massive and when I saw Liverpool in the last few minutes and they still want to score. I was shouting ‘just run into the corner flag, just get the points’. But Klopp is now in a place where I feel like he understands it might be the goal difference that might just win the league. They’ll outscore you, they’re relentless in their pressing, they might be a bit erratic but they just don’t give you space at all.
“I’ll still stick with that, as much as it really hurts me to say. I’d love Arsenal of course, but there’s just something about Liverpool this year I’ve been really amazed with, the way they’ve dealt with injuries as well.”
What’s the current state of play
After Arsenal and Man City both won last night, the onus is now on Liverpool to follow suit. That will add a significant amount of pressure on tonight’s game at Anfield.
Having played one game more than the Reds, Arsenal are now a point clear, with 68. They also have a goal difference advantage of eight. That means that a point tonight for Liverpool would leave them in second.
City meanwhile are now level with the Reds on 67 points. They boosted their own goal difference with yesterday’s 4-1 win, but are still two behind Liverpool.
With a month and a bit of the season left, it really couldn’t be tighter. We’re happy to hear Walcott hand the Reds the advantage. He follows Gabriel Agbonlahor who did the same yesterday. But the truth is that it’s anyone’s game still. Let’s hang in there with a big win tonight.