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It would take some extremely blue-tinted glasses to argue that Manchester City deserve to win the Premier League this season ahead of Liverpool, yet there may still be a world where they remain reigning champions heading into next season.

It is far-fetched, but the longer the Premier League is suspended, the stronger the calls will be to cancel the remaining fixtures and use an alternative method to decide how - or if - the final league standings are decided.

This week France joined the Netherlands in ending their football seasons early after government directives banning sporting events before September. The Eredivisie opted to void the season and not elect a champion, with Ajax and AZ Alkmaar level on points at the top. Ligue 1 are yet to decide how to determine final standings, although PSG were 12 points clear at the top before the season was suspended so there is more justification to awarding the title.

Premier League clubs will hold a conference call later this week to discuss the next steps for finishing their own season, with the hope that it will be possible to complete the remaining 92 fixtures and finish the season through sporting merit.

However, that decision may be taken out of their hands and the decision will have to be made to void the season or decide the final standings another way.

On the face of it, voiding the season would spare City losing their status as Premier League champions and allow them to put their failed title defence behind them. The extra time to prepare for next season would also be more beneficial than a condensed run-in with nothing to play for followed by a reduced pre-season for 2020/21.

But voiding the season would likely see City's Carabao Cup and Community Shield titles scrubbed off, as well as denying them one of their main motivations for next season: a point to prove.

If Liverpool, deservedly, win the Premier League this season, City will be able to use the pain of seeing their rivals take their trophy to fuel the 2021 title challenge.

After Liverpool knocked City out of the Champions League in 2018 so emphatically, Pep Guardiola's men won two and drew one of the next three meetings with the Reds. They were stronger after the experience of seeing Liverpool succeed at their expense.

Another Champions League disappointment followed last season against Tottenham, and there was a noticeable change in determination when the next knockout game came around in March at the Bernabeu. That tie isn't finished, but City produced one of their best-ever European performances to put themselves in pole position to progress.

This is a side who do not like losing, and they rarely make the same mistakes twice.

So in order for the team to be in the right frame of mind to win back their Premier League crown, they need a trophy to win back. And that means Liverpool winning the title this season.

The alternative could be a scorned, trophy-less Liverpool side with a bigger point to prove than City could ever compete with.

Read the original post:
Man City need Liverpool FC to win Premier League to boost 2021 challenge - Manchester Evening News