When logic is defeated again
Following Liverpool’s pulsating 3-2 win over pre-season Barclays Premier League title favourites Manchester City at Anfield on April 13, there were suggestions by Chelsea captain John Terry, whose team had scrapped a 1-0 win over Swansea City, that the result was exactly what the Blues were hoping for because it would mean that should they win all their remaining games, they would become champions.
His own goalkeeper Petr Cech put it into better perspective by suggesting that they had now become favourites (he did not use those words) because they had the experience in the run-in which my Liverpool do not have.
You could sense from those statements that there was a strong belief that after that Anfield match, it was all left to tomorrow’s lunch time kick-off between Liverpool and Chelsea to decide this season’s champions. That whoever grabs the three points on the Merseyside turf would go on to claim the title. Obviously, logic would support that reasoning, but I always say football hardly follows logical thought.
And so, even before, that Anfield tussle, Jose Mourinho’s side tumbled again. True to their form this season, they fell to a lowly placed side, the one anchoring the table to be exact. Apart from Everton, Chelsea have lost to teams that you would ordinarily expect them to walk over — Stoke City, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and, now, Sunderland. Seriously that cannot be a coincidence.
If you include their struggles in getting draws with the likes of West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion, you get a picture of a team that exists for the big matches, but fails to motivate itself against the minnows. The Blues managed to blow away Manchester City home and away, collected four points each from Manchester United, the Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur while they beat Liverpool in the first round.
You could, therefore, fancy them to win tomorrow against Liverpool and end the Reds’ 16-game unbeaten run. The only problem is that because of last week’s results, that will not be enough to make them favourites in the title race. Mathematically, it is City that would be in pole position and Liverpool, who guaranteed a top three place last week, would still finish above them if they win their remaining two fixtures.
Tomorrow’s match is, therefore, a must-win for Chelsea because a loss means they will be completely out of the title race in their final two matches. A draw, on the other hand, would push them further down the pecking order because it would increase City’s mathematical advantage. Liverpool, on the other hand, can afford a draw and remain mathematically ahead of their more illustrious opponents.
For Liverpool, this has already been a highly successful season whatever happens tomorrow and the rest of the season. Being involved in the title race has been a real bonus because the target at the beginning of the season was to try to get a place in the top four which brings Champions League football. That has been achieved with three games to spare and the team now can go on to enjoy the rest of the season.
