Why Man City are LUCKY to be near Liverpool

Liverpool's 2-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday saw the Reds stay top of the Premier League table.

Head coach Arne Slot has had a decent start to life on Merseyside winning 10 out of 11 games across all competitions. Many believed that Slot's Reds would be nowhere near the same standard as Jurgen Klopp's side, safe to say they've all been proven wrong.

Liverpool sit one point clear at the top of the table, with Manchester City in second place, however, new data reveals that the gap should be bigger.

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City lucky to be near Liverpool

Data from Understat predicted that the Reds would be on 18 points at this point in the season while Pep Guardiola's side were expected to have 14 points. Expected points takes the xG for and against from each game and distributes points that way.

While both teams have more points than expected with Liverpool on 21 and City on 20, the one point gap is three points closer than it "should" be.

In Manchester City's 2-1 victory over Wolves this afternoon, the lingering aftertaste of the match is dominated by a huge call made on the Blues' last-minute winner.

John Stones came up with the all-important header, but Bernardo Silva was visibly in an offside position - and fans have been left bewildered by the referee giving the goal despite the Portuguese international appearing to influence the Wolves goalkeeper.

Had City not been awarded their controversial winner, things could look slightly different

Reds flying at the top

It's worth noting that this isn’t weighted by opposition strength or any other factor, but at the moment, Liverpool are sitting at the top of the Premier League table and are certainly playing like it and they deserve to be there.

Slot's side has displayed consistency and quality that is expected from title contenders, blending attacking flair with defensive resilience.

Their ability to grind out results, as seen in their hard-fought victory over Chelsea, highlights their potential to become champions. Regardless of who they've faced so far, Liverpool's form has been impressive, and they look determined to see out the rest of the season at the top of the league.

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