Liverpool’s title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City missed out on the chance to close the gap on Arne Slot’s side after dropping points this weekend.
Paul Merson’s Liverpool prediction has come back to haunt him. The Sky Sports pundit – and ex-Arsenal hero – shared his belief on Saturday that the Merseyside derby postponement was a “massive” chance to ramp up the pressure on Arne Slot‘s leaders.
However, as it turned out, title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City both dropped points over the weekend to only narrowly close the gap on Liverpool. City drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace, whilst the Gunners’ fixture at Fulham ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
Arsenal’s clash vs the Cottagers on Sunday was not without it’s controversy after two VAR calls. William Saliba’s equaliser for the Gunners stood, after being adjudged to be onside, whilst Bukayo Saka’s late goal was ruled out, after VAR found that Gabriel Martinelli had strayed into an offside position in the build-up.
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Merson has now been made to eat his words, having said that the Merseyside derby postponement due to Storm Darragh could reignite the title race. “Massive, it’s massive,” the former England international told Sky Sports.
“It’s a little let-in for the other clubs. It opens that door for the other clubs, it’s huge.
“If they win that game, they go and beat Everton, which you’d probably expect them to, even though it’s a difficult game, they’d have gone 12 points ahead of Man City. [Now] Man City can this game [against Crystal Palace] and go six points behind.
“Arsenal and Chelsea can go four. And I know they have got a game in hand, but Chelsea and Arsenal could have been kicking off on Sunday 10 points behind, it’s a different game then.
“Now all of a sudden [if] they win, they are four behind. That game in hand is Everton, it doesn’t matter when it is played, whether it’s April or May or in four weeks’ time, it’s a difficult game.
“You know, you don’t look at this game and say; ‘okay, it’s Fulham away’ – no disrespect to Fulham – but someone who might be around mid-table at the end of the season where they go; ‘you know what? That’s a nothing game, middle of the table, they’re not going for anything, they will probably roll over’.
“Everton aren’t going to roll over whatever day this game is played. The last Goodison game.
“Liverpool are flying at the moment. Everything is going well, everyone’s fit, they’ve got their team out.
“When this game comes around, who knows? They could be stuck in the middle of a Champions League quarter-final, last-16 game, it’s just massive. It opens it up to everyone how big this cancellation is.”
