Liverpool will have to put their Premier League title celebrations on hold after Arsenal’s resounding 4-0 win over Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon. The Reds knew they could only become champions this weekend if the Gunners lost at Portman Road and they beat Leicester City at the King Power.
But Arsenal ensured Liverpool’s wait continued as they put on a show against the Tractor Boys thanks to two goals from Leandro Trossard and one each from Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri. Things went from bad to worse for Ipswich as Leif Davis was also sent off to compound their woes as they edge closer towards relegation.
Now Liverpool won’t be able to win the league this weekend even if they defeat Leicester City away from home and they’ll now be turning their attentions to the next possible target.
The Reds know that – should they defeat Leicester – they only need one more win to wrap up the title, but it could come even sooner without kicking a ball.
Arsenal play Crystal Palace on Wednesday and defeat against the Eagles would guarantee Liverpool the title.
If the Gunners avoid defeat to Palace at the Emirates – as they are expected to – then the next available opportunity to win the title would fall to Liverpool at home to Tottenham on Sunday. In fact, Liverpool would only need to match Arsenal’s result in order to seal their first Premier League title since 2020.
Liverpool can hope for a maximum of 94 points this season if they win all their remaining games, which would actually be their third-best tally behind 2019-20 and 2018-19. They will likely lift the Premier League trophy in their final game against Crystal Palace on May 25.
Of course, Arsenal will be faced with the humiliating prospect of giving Liverpool a guard of honour when the two teams play on May 11 if Arne Slot’s men have won the title by that point.
Slot surprised reporters by claiming he had not given any thought to the prospect of Liverpool winning the title imminently.
“The honest answer is no. I’m not sure you believe me but that is the honest answer. My whole life I’m living in the moment, in the day, and I’m not looking backwards a lot and I’m not looking forwards a lot because it’s the type of person that I am, that I am not constantly looking back at what I have achieved at former clubs.
“That is also so difficult in football, people constantly tell you, ‘Try to enjoy it, try to enjoy the whole journey,’ but the only thing you are thinking about as a manager is, ‘Oh, at the weekend there is a game coming up as well and we need to win that and we need to win the next and we need to win the next.’
“So, maybe that’s one of the reasons: because I’m already so long in football that you get used to the fact of living day by day and trying to influence day by day.
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