Though the postponement of Liverpool’s trip to Everton gave their rivals a chance to at least temporarily close the gap, Man City only went on to drop more points.
Liverpool went into the weekend seven points clear at the top of the table, but with the Merseyside derby called off due to Storm Darragh, there was a chance for their rivals to gain a psychological advantage.
• READ: Possible dates for Everton vs. Liverpool fixture after postponement
Though the Reds’ trip to Goodison Park will be played at a later date, therefore giving Arne Slot‘s side a game in hand, any distance between them and the chasing pack could be temporarily reduced.
For Man City, opportunity came with a trip to bottom-half Crystal Palace on Saturday – but again saw them drop points in a 2-2 draw, as their hopes of retaining the title fade.
Daniel Munoz put Palace 1-0 up within just four minutes at Selhurst Park after being played onside by the woeful Kyle Walker, before Erling Haaland cancelled it out with his first Premier League goal in a month.
But Palace regained their lead not long into the second half when Maxence Lacroix headed home from a corner – rising above Walker to beat Stefan Ortega.
City did restore parity before long with a brilliant goal from Rico Lewis, but the young midfielder was later sent off for two bookable offences, giving Pep Guardiola’s side no chance of coming back for three points.
It means City have won just one of their last nine games in all competitions – that being the 3-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest in midweek.
They have lost four and drawn one of their last six games in the league, meaning the champions are eight points behind Liverpool having now played a game more.
“It’s a season to survive,” Guardiola said after the game. “We cannot talk about the title race when we lose four games in a row and draw.”
Liverpool could still see Arsenal and Chelsea close the gap on Sunday as they face Fulham and Tottenham respectively, with wins for either side seeing them move within four points of the top.
But Slot and his players can remain confident either way as they will now hold a game in hand over their rivals for the foreseeable future.