Dropped points, pressure points and turning points

Pep’s wounded champions out to derail Liverpool’s title push

- MIGUEL DELANEY

By the time Liverpool got back from Birmingham, Arne Slot was already trying to be composed about a game that could really have gone either way. Darwin Nunez could and should have won it, sure, but Liverpool also had to come from behind against Aston Villa. Slot is trying to point to the potential value of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s equaliser.

The emotional swing feels a bit like the title race itself and of course, that is the context everything is now being put into.

It’s all the more pronounced given this is a week that could well prove a turning point. Liverpool face a trip to Manchester City before an awkward home match against Newcastle United. Arsenal have a more forgiving run but a much more punishing injury list. Mikel Merino has nevertheless given them a new impetus, that invigorating sense of an unexpected solution at a problematic time.

You can see why there’s a sense of focus around both clubs. There are enough elements in place for wild swings either way. It’s as easy to argue that Liverpool could go 10-plus clear as it is that the gap could be cut to four or less.

In other words, for the first time, the Premier League trophy is in view. We are getting through the slow build-up, those first 28 games that almost represent the three first days of a golf major.

Slot doesn’t want his players looking at it like that, of course. Just like Mikel Arteta, he’ll be getting his squad to focus on the next game. It might be dull but that’s why it works.