City v Liverpool –– The One We've Been Waiting For

What a weekend of football... From the World Cup draw to the Champions League and everything in between––we have a lot to cover this week. Furthermore and as previously noted, one lucky subscriber will be getting an official 2021-2022 jersey of their choice. The first one to 10 referrals is the chosen one, so get sharing!!

Let's get straight into it.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Madrid at it again in London... Real Madrid stormed the capital and took an emphatic 3-1 lead into the second leg of this Champions League quarterfinal. They did so on the back of a Karim Benzema hattrick, and boy has this man been outstanding this season.

🌍 The World Cup draw was finalised last Friday. England and The United States find themselves in the same group once again... what could go wrong? 

🇪🇺 Champions League: Liverpool took care of business in Portugal seeing off Benfica 3-1 in what looks like a lead that will be insurmountable for the visitors at Anfield. On the other hand, Simeone's terrorizing troop of anti-football soldiers was able to hold Manchester City to 1-0 at the Etihad. Atléti finished with just one shot the entire night, and accumulating an xG of (0.07). Bayern also have an uphill battle against Villarreal, after losing 1-0 in the opening leg. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Old Firm Derby took place over the weekend, and in a game that could've seen both tied on points by day's end, Celtic instead have one hand on the title. Former Arsenal and Juventus man Aaron Ramsey scored just three minutes into the game, but Celtic came back and ultimately finished the game from a set piece with American Cameron Carter-Vickers netting the winner. Celtic now sit top by 6 points.

🇮🇹 Inter beats Juventus, while Napoli wins and Milan drops points. Title race back on in Italy, with Napoli just a point behind Milan now and Inter 4 points back with a game in hand. Three-way race to the finish. 

Quiz Of The Week

Who is the only man to play for both red and blue sides of both Manchester and Liverpool?

Scroll to the bottom for the answer...

The Title Decider

Manchester City (+110) vs Liverpool (+235) –– Sunday 11:30 AM ET 

The only game we have on preview this week, simply because it is the biggest and best of the lot. It's the modern day feast of club football, a pantomime fixture at the pinnacle of Premier League heights. 

There was a time when City simply could not be caught this season. At one stage, Pep's side were as many as 14 points clear of Liverpool only as far back as January. Since then, they've drawn Southampton and Crystal Palace and lost to Tottenham––and look who's right back in the race. 

Liverpool enter the day just one point behind City in the table. Consider it amazing, because at the time they were "out of it" and had the most ground to make up, they lost their two best players (Salah & Mane) to AFCON. Coping with that, grinding out results and finding themselves here, with a chance to go and take the title race into their own hands, is nothing short of astonishing. 

Manchester City and Liverpool will be bucking heads for the rest of whatever is left of this season; it's not going to end on Sunday. They play each other six days later in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, and are on a potential collision course to face one another in the Champions League final, should each side reach that stage of the competition (which they are favourites to do). Plus, a Liverpool win or a draw on Sunday means that this title race is far from over.

This game has been talked about for what seems like months now, with situations and circumstances forged and furrowed and ultimately rearranged. No one expected Liverpool to be just a point back when these two met; it was supposed to be Liverpool's must-win-to-live in what would still be a title far in the distance. Now, the task seems more manageable. Even a draw this weekend would be satisfactory for Liverpool, because rocking up to the Etihad and expecting to win is a difficult task indeed.

Pep's men have had few stumbling blocks this season. Results will sometimes go against you after all, and it's been a lack of complete and utter perfection that has let Liverpool back into the chase. Should Pep be lambasted? Far from... after all, we're looking at two teams setting a staggering standard of 95+ points a season to win a league. 

It's Pep and Klopp, de Bruyne and Salah, Sterling and Mane and Mahrez and Jota. It's must-not-miss football. It's Manchester City against Liverpool, this Sunday, in the biggest match of the PL season so far. 

Dan & Billy's Betting Picks

Dan's Picks: I'm ready for a big weekend. I like Wolves tie no bet on FNF at +140 against Newcastle. I also like Burnley to beat Norwich in a scrap at +150. And lastly, I have one that will upset the United boys out there - I like Everton to beat United this weekend, coming in with a HUGE value play +350.

Billy's Picks: Who's Pitt and who's Clooney? I probably could fit into either role, not sure Dan can. I blew it again last week, really did. No way around it. Only thing to do is shake it off and go again? I'm just gonna shut up and pick. Tottenham -160 home to Brighton. Leicester +135 home to Palace. James Maddison anytime scorer +220. Good luck to all. 

Goal Of The Week 

Nothing but a laser from Marseille's Dmitri Payet in the Europa Conference League. Technique of the highest order. You won't find many better goals than this.

Red Card Of The Week 

Don't touch the golden boy... Tuta was sent off for this challenge on Pedri in their Europa League tie. It was a second yellow, but would it have been a straight red? 

Quiz Answer: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The legend, Peter Beardsley, of course! Most know Beardsley for his time at both Liverpool and Everton, but he made six appearances for Man City and one single appearance for Man United. 

Have a great weekend and continue to spread the Straight Red love if you want a chance to win a jersey of your choice!