Michael Owen commented on Liverpool vs Manchester City as a rivalry for Premier League Productions on Sunday. The two just played out a tense title race.
Liverpool narrowly missed out on the Premier League title this season, despite their 3-1 win over Wolves at Anfield. The Reds did their part but still required Aston Villa to get at least a point against Manchester City.
Things looked good, too, as Steven Gerrard’s side led 2-0 with 15 minutes to go. And then things completely fell apart. Villa somehow conceded three times in five minutes – an almost impossible feat – to lose the game and Liverpool the title.
So City get their fourth title in five years and, much as in 2019, come from behind on the final day to scrape beyond Liverpool. The two sides have been relentlessly dominant over the last few years, sweeping up nearly everything.
They’ve twice now pushed one another to remarkable heights, too. This is the second time in four years that both clubs finished with more than 90 points, after all.
So where do they actually stand as a rivalry? Michael Owen gave his take to Premier League Productions on the conclusion of the league.
The Liverpool vs Manchester City rivalry
“We’ve seen big rivalries, possibly bigger rivalries in terms of grudge matches,” said Owen. “But I don’t think we’ve seen the quality of these two, ever.
“In my lifetime, anyway.”
We’d go along with that. Liverpool v City isn’t a grudge match and the rivalry itself holds little to no passion. Both teams just want to win – take one team out of the trophy race and this simply isn’t a rivalry.
But in terms of quality, this is as high as it gets. What Liverpool have done in recent years is sensational, with squad building at the absolute highest level under Jurgen Klopp. And City have done incredibly well, too, in spending more money than any other club in the history of football. We don’t know how either does it.