Micah Richards sends title message to Arsenal after Man City beat Liverpool | Football

Micah Richards has warned Arsenal the title race is ‘back on’ and ‘something is going on’ after Manchester City got here from behind to defeat Liverpool on Sunday.

The Gunners had looked on the right track to complete the weekend with an imperious nine-point advantage after Dominik Szoboszlai struck home an unstoppable 30-yard free-kick to open the scoring at Anfield.

A day earlier, Mikel Arteta’s men had swept Sunderland aside in a 3-0 victory to tighten their grip on top spot within the Premier League.

But just as City’s already dwindling title hopes appeared to fading even further, Bernardo Silva latched onto a header from Erling Haaland to make all of it square with six minutes remaining of normal time on Merseyside.

With their tails firmly up searching for a winner, the visitors were rewarded for his or her endeavor as Alisson brought down Matheus Nunes contained in the box, with Haaland converting the resulting penalty for his twenty first league goal of the campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side appeared to have increased the deficit deep into stoppage time through Rayan Cherki, just for VAR to disallow the strike as Szoboszlai was sent off for his foul on Haaland within the immediate build-up.

The late moment of controversy mattered little in the long run, though, with City holding firm against the reigning champions to make sure they finished six points adrift of top-of-the-table Arsenal.

‘Oh, it’s back on! It’s back on, it’s back on!’ ex-City defender Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast.

When podcast host Gary Lineker reminded Richards that state of play was the exact same before the weekend’s motion, he replied: ‘No, no, no! Manchester City have won at Anfield, what’s it?, 3 times or something of their history.

‘The last time they beat them was through the Covid pandemic. Something is going on!

‘I told you guys, against Spurs in the primary half, excellent. Against Newcastle, early doors, Marmoush and Semenyo because the wide strikers, the mixtures are back.

‘The one thing they weren’t doing is putting the ball at the back of the onion bag and Haaland did that [against Liverpool.

‘He didn’t have great game… big moments. He got his assist for Bernardo Silva after which he gets that penalty.

‘I used to be delighted for him.’

Lineker stays unconvinced regarding City’s title probabilities, though, and believes Guardiola badly misses the ‘not possible’-to-replace Kevin De Bruyne.

‘You take a look at them now and the one player that’s such a glaring miss for them is Kevin De Bruyne, the service that he provides your strikers,’ the ex-Match of the Day presenter said.

‘He’s almost not possible to switch.’

While Alan Shearer agreed with Lineker about De Bruyne, he doesn’t ‘feel too sorry’ for City given the strength in depth they still have throughout their star-studded squad.

‘You’re not going to ever replace him. He’s among the finest we’ve ever seen,’ Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer – chimed in.

‘I do know they’ve spent a fortune on other players in those positions but you’re never getting someone like him again.

‘He’s a one-off, it was amazing what he did.

‘But I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them with the players they’ve got, though.’

On Wednesday night, City return to motion at home to a Fulham side badly struggling for confidence after three losses of their last 4 matches.

Arsenal travel to Brentford in an all-London affair 24 hours later, targeting a 3rd straight win within the English top flight following their defeat to Manchester United.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

MORE: Gary Neville names three reasons Arsenal ought to be apprehensive about Manchester City

MORE: John Terry sends blunt message to Arsenal after Man City comeback against Liverpool

MORE: Gary Lineker jokes Man Utd star should ‘sue’ Ruben Amorim over ‘baffling’ treatment