LONDON (News Wires) – For a couple of hours on Sunday Liverpool fans will throw off their usual disdain for Manchester United and be rooting for their great rivals as they take on Manchester City.
Should Liverpool beat West Ham United on Saturday they would close the gap in the English Premier League title race to three points having played the same amount of games.
If United was then to beat City at The Etihad the following day, Liverpool’s title destiny would be in their own hands.
It is a big if, however, as United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick faces his biggest test since coming in to replace sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
While United are unbeaten in their last eight league games under the German, only one was against a top-six team, four have ended in draws including a 0-0 home stalemate with relegation-threatened Watford last time out, and fans are still struggling to work out a recognisable style of football.
City, while suffering a blip in a 3-2 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in their previous home game, has won 15 of their last 17 Premier League games and allowing United to sabotage their title hopes is unthinkable.
United did win on their last league visit to The Etihad almost a year ago, although that 2-0 triumph merely delayed City’s procession to a third title in four years.
Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw were on target that day and Fernandes has raised the stakes ahead of Sunday’s clash, especially with United’s hopes of finishing in the top four hanging in the balance.
“It’s one of those games where we know what it means for the city, for the fans, for the club and for ourselves,” he said according to Reuters. “It’s a game we want to win at all costs.”
United are in fourth place but their grip on the last Champions League qualification spot is precarious.
They have 47 points from 27 games, two more than fifth-placed West Ham United and sixth-placed Arsenal, but Arsenal have three games in hand and are in the driving seat.
Arsenal will play at Watford in Sunday’s early kickoff when a win would seriously turn up the heat on United.
Liverpool has won their last 11 games in all competitions, claimed the League Cup last weekend with a penalty shootout win over Chelsea and will be buoyant ahead of the visit of West Ham.
The relegation battle continues at the weekend with bottom club Norwich City desperate for a victory against a Brentford side who has fallen into the danger zone.
Brentford is in 15th place but has lost seven of their last eight league games and defeat at Norwich would leave Thomas Frank’s side in real danger of undoing all their early-season promise by being relegated.
Burnley, who missed the chance to escape the bottom three in midweek when losing at home to Leicester City, host third-placed Chelsea knowing a point would haul them above Everton who face Tottenham Hotspur away on Monday.
Leeds United, another side in danger of being dragged into the relegation zone, begins life after Marcelo Bielsa with a tricky away trip to Leicester City on Saturday.
New American manager Jesse Marsch will need to hit the ground running to turn around the club’s slump.
Premier League TV rights deal in Russia ‘under review’
The Premier League is looking at the suspension or termination of its Russian television deal following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, chief executive Richard Masters said according to AFP.
The Russian rights for the current season are owned by a company called Rambler, and broadcast on streaming platform Okko.
Match TV, owned by Russian state energy giant Gazprom, is then set to start a six-year deal from the 2022/23 season.
Commercial deals with Russia in all sectors are under scrutiny and Masters told the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London: “With regards to our broadcast contracts in Russia, clearly they’re under review.”
“We’re looking at (the contracts) very closely in terms of suspension, termination,” he added. “It’s happening right now. It’s a fast-moving situation.”
Earlier this week, Russia was suspended from international football competitions and European governing body Uefa ended its partnership with Gazprom.
Masters was asked whether the fact that Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich — who has announced he is selling the club — was potentially facing sanctions from the British government made a mockery of the league’s owners’ and directors’ test designed to assess the suitability of those in control of top-flight English teams.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “The test has been under a lot of scrutiny for the last 12 months and we’re looking at it again.
“As part of our process in responding to (a) fan-led review we’re looking at whether more tests need to be added, whether we need to be more transparent about those decisions and whether independent scrutiny really needs to be put on top of it.”
Amnesty raised concerns over the purchase in October of Newcastle by a Saudi-led consortium, saying it was an attempt to “sportswash” the Gulf kingdom’s human rights record.
The rights group urged the Premier League to change their owners’ and directors’ test to address rights issues.
Asked on Thursday whether there could be a human rights element in the future, Masters said: “We have had some helpful conversations with Amnesty International about those sort of things.
“I’m not going to say how it should change yet, because really it should be one test for football.”
Premier League clubs are set to show their support for the people of Ukraine at this weekend’s matches.
“I’d like the Russian people to see the strength of feeling in the Premier League and in English football this weekend,” Masters said.
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