Jamie Carragher rates Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC’s title hopes after draw
Jamie Carragher has declared that Man City will win the league this season following Chelsea FC's draw with Liverpool FC
Jamie Carragher has ruled Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC out of the Premier League title race following their 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Chelsea FC came from two goals down in the first half to claim a point in a thrilling game at Stamford Bridge – but the result has helped Manchester City to extend their lead at the top of the table.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side currently sit 10 points clear of second-placed Chelsea FC with 17 games left to play this season. Third-placed Liverpool FC, meanwhile, are 11 points off top spot but have a game in hand over the two teams above them.
Liverpool FC legend Carragher already thought that it would be difficult for either team to catch City before Sunday’s thrilling draw – but he now feels that the title race is essentially over following the result.
“I think Man City will win the league,” Carragher said on Sky Sports after the game. “I don’t see Liverpool or Chelsea cutting that gap.
“[If one of the teams had won at Stamford Bridge on Sunday] the extra two points… and if Liverpool won their game in hand, as you’d probably expect them to – I think it’s Leeds at home – then you think, OK.
“[But even] six points is very tough against this Man City team. Once it goes more than that, three games you’ve got to catch up on Man City, I just don’t see it at all.
“Man City right now, in terms of controlling games, that’s the big difference. I think Liverpool this season have been fantastic going forward. Chelsea [have been] really good defensively. Man City are as good as both of those teams at those two individual things.
“Man City are as good as Chelsea defensively and certainly as good as Liverpool going forward – and that’s the big difference.”
Meanwhile, fellow pundit and former Blues star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink urged Chelsea FC to forget about the teams around them and focus on improving their own form, with the south west London side having dropped points in four of their last five outings in the top flight.
Asked about Chelsea FC’s position in the title race, Hasselbaink replied: “It’s a big gap, but you have to concentrate on yourself. You have to win matches, forget about Man City, and take it game after game.
“They have drawn too many matches here [at home]. That is the past – it’s about the future and you can only take each game at a time. Don’t look at Man City.”
Chelsea FC will take on Tottenham in the League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night, while Liverpool FC will travel to face Arsenal in the same competition.
