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Paul Merson: "This is a cup final for Manchester City. They have to win





Merson: It's a nightmare game for both Man City and Liverpool to have so soon after the international break. But the pressure is on Man City. They cannot afford to lose. They cannot even afford to draw"


"This is a cup final for Manchester City. They have to win this game. A win and the gap is five points again and the pressure is back on Arsenal, who have some tricky games still to play.


A draw for City and an Arsenal win against Leeds on Saturday would take the gap to 10 points and that is too far.


That is a gap where you well and truly start to think it might be over.


It's a nightmare game for both Man City and Liverpool to have so soon after the international break.




It's a huge game and it does work the same way for both teams.


Both managers don't have the time they would like to work on things ahead of the game and you also have to wait for the players to get back to see who may or may not be fit.


It's not ideal and it may be that whoever copes with the disruption better may come out on top.


But the pressure is on Man City. They cannot afford to lose. They cannot even afford to draw


Merson added: I have said for a while now that we get to the final months of the season, the title could be decided by who plays first between Man City and Arsenal.


With that in mind, the schedule looks to have dropped in favour of Man City.


If Arsenal had been first up against Leeds this coming weekend and won the game, the pressure on Man City against Liverpool would have been mind blowing.


However, that's not the way it has worked out. They can treat it like their game in hand and a win would see them go five points behind again, piling the pressure on Arsenal against Leeds.


This also happens for the next couple of weeks, so I think that helps City.


If Arsenal were to play first and go 11 points clear, wow. The pressure and points deficit would be enormous on City.



A big week for Liverpool's top-four hopes...


Liverpool are going to have a big say in the destination of the title.


They travel to City this week before hosting Arsenal next weekend.


They may not be in the title race themselves, but they still have plenty to play for as they look to creep into the Champions League places.


It's a huge week for them with Chelsea in between the games against Man City and Arsenal. It's a defining week for them with results going to have a huge impact on their top-four chances.


If they do not get something from these games, then they will not be back in the Champions League next season.


But four points from the next few games and you would not want to back against them going on a huge run and securing Champions League qualification.



Liverpool's remaining fixtures…

April 1: Manchester City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm

April 4: Chelsea (A) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports

April 9: Arsenal (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports

April 17: Leeds (A) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports

April 22: Nottingham Forest (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm

April 26: West Ham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm

April 30: Tottenham (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports

May 3: Fulham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm

May 6: Brentford (H) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports

May 13: Leicester (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm

May 20: Aston Villa (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm

May 28: Southampton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm



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