In a league that has been decided by a point twice in the last five seasons, it’s far from being unlikely that fine margins will separate the English top-flight’s top two sides once more.
Though Glenn Murray was quick to rule out the impact the inconveniently-placed (or conveniently, dependent on your point of view) winter World Cup will have on Manchester City, it’s a point worth considering in light of their comparatively slower start to the campaign to Liverpool’s.
“Could it hinder City twice?’ the former Brighton attacker posited on BBC Sport.
“They sometimes start slowly in August, so it could happen again in December this time too.
“I don’t see it though. Everyone knows this break is happening and they will be ready for it, especially the top teams.”
Could it affect the Sky Blues in their bid to secure a third successive league title? Let’s take a look at the numbers, using the Reds’ record after the African Cup of Nations as a benchmark in terms of how Jurgen Klopp’s men could react after the upcoming international tournament.
Liverpool’s immediate league record after AFCON (missing three players): WWWWWWWWDW – 28 points
Manchester City’s league record at the start of the 2021/22 season: LWWWDWDWWL – 20 points
Liverpool’s league record at the start of the 2021/22 season: WWDWWDDWWD – 22 points
It’s worth highlighting that as many as eight Liverpool stars could be present at the World Cup (should Fabio Carvalho’s ambitions of making the Portugal squad be fulfilled) – a significant jump up from the loss of Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Naby Keita between January and February (albeit, we won’t have to play without our World Cup players).
Assuming the incumbent champions collect a similar amount of points after the restart, it could provide us with a potential advantage for the rest of the campaign.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that we enjoyed some positive momentum during the AFCON period and that a break from domestic football could prove to be similarly damaging for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
We did enjoy a comparatively better start in the league, however, which could provide the necessary margin to overcome our competitors in the race for league glory after the return from Qatar.
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