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

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

The Gunners had looked on course to finish 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 in 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 it all square with six minutes remaining of normal time on Merseyside.

With their tails firmly up in search of a winner, the visitors were rewarded for their endeavor as Alisson brought down Matheus Nunes inside the box, with Haaland converting the resulting penalty for his 21st league goal of the campaign.

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

The late moment of controversy mattered little in the end, though, with City holding firm against the reigning champions to ensure 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 exactly the same before the weekend’s action, he replied: ‘No, no, no! Manchester City have won at Anfield, what is it?, three times or something in their history.

‘The last time they beat them was during the Covid pandemic. Something is happening!

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

‘The only thing they weren’t doing is putting the ball in 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 and then he gets that penalty.

‘I was delighted for him.’

Lineker remains unconvinced regarding City’s title chances, though, and believes Guardiola badly misses the ‘impossible’-to-replace Kevin De Bruyne.

‘You 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 impossible to replace.’

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 one of the best we’ve ever seen,’ Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer – chimed in.

‘I 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 action at home to a Fulham side badly struggling for confidence after three losses in their last four matches.

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

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