Jurgen Klopp has admitted that it could well become a one-horse race for the title, with Manchester City emerging as the clear favourites in recent weeks.
Klopp’s Liverpool side romped to the title last season and finished eighteen points ahead of nearest challengers City, although it’s not gone quite so well this time around.
After suffering a succession of injuries and losing influential defender Virgil Van Dijk, the champions have struggled to reach their usually impressive high standards, currently sitting in fourth and seven points behind Man City at the top of the table.
Pep Guardiola’s side are the ninth team to have topped the table thus far this season in what’s been a hugely entertaining campaign, with the likes of Leicester and West Ham in the mix for not only a top-four spot, but potentially the title.
While it’s previously looked like anyone could finish the season at the summit, City’s recent 12 game winning run in all competitions has now seen them installed as the odds-on favourites in the latest sports betting, with Klopp admitting that Guardiola’s men could ‘run away’ with the league if they maintain their current form.
“Will it be the most exciting run-in with different teams? It could be. But City could run away now as well,” said Klopp at his pre-match press conference. “They are in a good position with one game in hand, playing good football again and these types of things.
“What we see is it is a difficult season for all teams maybe apart from West Ham, and Leicester looks pretty good as well. A lot of teams look good but we all have our ups and downs during the season.
“I can imagine looking from outside it is really exciting, especially for the neutral fan. I don’t know who will be champions. If we cannot be it, then that is the best news we can get. It is very exciting that a lot of teams are in and some clubs are doing exceptionally well.
“For sure, it is a year where you need to be lucky with injuries to be really on top of things, more so than in other years, more so because of the intensity and because of the amount of games in a specific period. That is for sure.”
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