City host Arsenal on Super Sunday, before Liverpool travel to West Ham on MNF, with both games live on Sky Sports Premier League.
Saturday 2 February 2019 08:24, UK
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher discuss the race for this season's Premier League and tell us whether it is Liverpool or Manchester City who hold the aces.
Jurgen Klopp's side have a five-point advantage over City after 24 games, though that would have been seven had Liverpool beaten Leicester at Anfield on Wednesday.
The champions, meanwhile, have recently showed uncharacteristic signs of vulnerability, losing three of their last seven league games - including a 2-1 loss at Newcastle on Tuesday - to offer Liverpool genuine hope of a first top-flight title since 1990.
Carragher, however, has advised his former club's fans to put away any thoughts of winning the league for now.
"If any Liverpool supporter thinks they are just going to win the next 14 games, it's just not going to be like that," the ex-Liverpool captain told Sky Sports News.
"They will not play well every game because there will be nerves and tension the closer you get.
"I don't think it's the time to be thinking about the title. Get the next month out of the way and then March and April is the time when, if you do make mistakes it's difficult to come back.
I don't think it's the time to be thinking about the title
"Even with City losing at Newcastle they are not out of it. It's not the end of the world if you drop points now, there is time to make it up, but when February is done and we are getting into March then we are into the run-in."
Meanwhile, Neville believes City's recent struggles should encourage Liverpool
"I think we have an intriguing title race, I really do," the Sky Sports pundit said. "What I would say is if I was Liverpool, there is something not quite right at City, there is a chink in the armour. They are giving you a chance and that is all you want in a title race is a team giving you encouragement.
"City last season did not give anybody encouragement. They are still in this title race, five points is not a major lead by any stretch of the imagination, it can be gone in two games. And it will just go away and move away from Liverpool if they make a mistake or two.
"At this point of the season, there are still a lot of things out of our control - disciplinary, injuries to major players that will still have a major impact, Champions League runs and getting caught up in major issues, they can all still happen.
"But all things being well, we have a brilliant title race on our hands between two fantastic teams."
Neville, however, has warned Liverpool that the pressure on them will only increase between now and the end of the season.
The former Manchester United defender thinks that if Pep Guardiola's side are within touching distance of Liverpool come the final five matches, then the champions will retain their title.
"I know some ex-Liverpool players said the expectation and fan emotion should be a real enjoyment, but there will be no escape for Liverpool over the next few months," he said.
If City keep close within the last five games, I think they will win it. If it comes down to nerve in the last five games, City will win it
"They are going to have to handle it every single second and every single minute of every single day. That is a positive because they are in the title race, but it can wear you down and your legs start to go.
"And you need your experienced players in the dressing room to drag you through, but Liverpool do not have a great deal of experience.
"So they will have to rely on Jurgen Klopp and his experiences with Dortmund to be able to navigate and maybe some of the players' experience from last time that they had under Brendan Rodgers to navigate where they went wrong, how they made mistakes, how they can get it right this time.
"For City, they just have to keep the pressure on. If City keep close within the last five games, I think they will win it. If it comes down to nerve in the last five games, City will win it.
"But I do think at this moment of time that City are making mistakes and Liverpool look like they are making less. And Liverpool could pull clear a little bit and that could be a problem for City, they might just get far enough in front to be able to cause City a bigger problem."
