Saturday may have been watershed moment in title race

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A whirlwind Saturday may have been a watershed moment in the Premier League title race.

Firstly, Liverpool came from behind to defeat Newcastle United. It’s a game that should send confidence throughout Anfield – despite falling behind, the result never felt in doubt.

The Reds pushed their winning streak to 14 – a Premier League record for Liverpool – and opened up a five-point lead at the top. That’s the most ever after just five games and, suddenly, Jurgen Klopp’s side look in control.

That’s something they didn’t have last season. While they did have that seven-point gap at one stage, it did always feel as though Manchester City would take some beating. And as we know, they did overcome the gap and Liverpool finished second.

But what Liverpool proved last season is that they can keep the pace. Now they’ve got this lead, we know they can keep their form up all season long.

And City had a particularly notable Saturday, too. They went down 3-2 at newly-promoted Norwich City but it was the style of the defeat that caught the eye.

Norwich took the game to City and got their rewards. That’s something that smaller clubs virtually never try against the Champions and most are ready to ‘park the bus’ and hope for luck that never comes.

But Norwich proved that attacking City can draw mistakes. You can create your own luck against them and they’re not unstoppable. Far from it – Norwich scored three times and could have had more.

If other Premier League sides take note and plan accordingly, City could face a very different campaign this year.

And so this really could be a watershed weekend for the title race. Liverpool open up a lead with genuine confidence this time, while City showed a weakness.

We may well look back on this at the end of the season as a defining weekend.