One of the features of the Saturday morning radio show I host on Today FM, is a segment called “The Duel”. It a debate between producer extraordinaire Brad “B-Rad” Lewis and my good self on a topic du jour. Yesterday morning (Saturday 23 April 2022) our subject was the following question – Who is going to win the English Premier League – Liverpool or Manchester City? Brad, proud Liverpool supporter that is he, took the Liverpool side of the discussion and I the Manchester City point of view. Below is the argument I put forward for Pep Guardiola’s team.

NB – Since the following was broadcast, Manchester City has beaten Watford 5-1 to move four points clear of Liverpool, who play tomorrow morning (Monday 25 April 2022 NZT) against Everton at Anfield.

“Right you went first last week so I’ll go first today which is where Manchester City is going to finish and here’s why:

  1. Manchester City have the lead – yes it only one point but it is still one point more than Liverpool and I’d rather be leading, even if it is only by the barest of margins, than chasing at the back end of title battle
  2. The Pressure – Liverpool is chasing a quadruple and with that comes an extraordinary spotlight in which every selection, every move, every contest is micro examined to an disturbing degree 
  3. The Schedule – Manchester City have great spacing of their remaining games. They go Saturday (EPL – Watford at home) Tuesday (UCL – Real Madrid at home) Saturday (EPL – Leeds away) Wednesday (UCL – Real Madrid away) then their last three EPL games on consecutive Sundays (home vs Newcastle, away vs West Ham, home vs Aston Villa) 
  4. The Strength of Schedule – The best ranked of Manchester City’s remaining EPL opponents is 7th placed West Ham; the rest currently sit 11th, 15th, 16th & second-to-last AND finally
  5. The Strength of Schedule! – Like Man City, Liverpool have to play a two-leg Champions League semi-final but also the FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley – another significant and emotive game – and the coup-de-grace, my mob, the Jekyll’n’Hyde of the English Premier League nay English football in totality, the magnificent-against-the-best-teams, outhouse-against-bottom-third-of-the-league-teams, my equal parts beloved and uber-frustrating Tottenham Hotspurs and Brad Lewis, loyal Liverpool supporter that you are, I know that deep down in places that you don’t talk about at parties, you don’t want Tottenham at Anfield, you don’t need Tottenham at Anfield, not with the title and history on the line.