In the midweek round Liverpool’s lead over Arsenal has narrowed, back to -4. The Reds, however, still have to recover the derby with Everton postponed due to bad weather last December, which is why they currently have one match less than the Gunners.
The slowdown of Arne Slot’s men, in any case, is there for all to see: Liverpool have drawn their last two league games (2-2 with Manchester United and 1-1 with Nottingham Forest), showing that they are less bright than a few weeks ago.
The former Feyenoord coach, however, should not make a big deal out of it, if we consider that his team still has a significant lead over its pursuers and remains the leading title candidate. The Reds will have a chance to make up for it in the away match, the second consecutive one, with Brentford, which comes just days after the City Ground match with Forest. The Bees in the last month have lost altitude, gradually moving away from the European zone (they are currently tenth). Theirs remains a very good league, but the fact that since the beginning of December they have had their way only with bottom-of-the-table Southampton speaks volumes. Once the long home unbeaten streak came to an end, Thomas Frank’s team became as if dissolved: last Tuesday they stopped Manchester City 2-2, but previously they had violated Community Stadium Forest, Arsenal and even lowly Plymouth in the FA Cup. Liverpool, therefore, has a good chance of returning to success in a match in which the hosts could also score.
The predictions on the other matches
In the midweek round, Leicester’s losing streak continued. The van Nistelrooy cure is having no effect and the Foxes, in addition to always conceding goals, are not making any progress in the standings, they remain second to last.
Premier League: possible winners.
Liverpool (in Brentford-Liverpool)
West Ham or draw (in West Ham-Crystal Palace)
The match of at least three goals overall
Leicester-Fulham
Premier League: the matches by at least one goal per team
Brentford-Liverpool
West Ham-Crystal Palace
