Liverpool need Mohamed Salah to keep firing as title race enters defining stage

With Manchester City nine points clear of Liverpool, some believe the Premier League title race is over.

It would be foolish, however, to assume so.

The title is still up for grabs, although the weeks leading up to Liverpool's clash with City at the Etihad on April 9 are likely to have a huge say in where the famous trophy will end up.

Jurgen Klopp's side don't have an awful Premier League schedule between now and then. Their next three fixtures are against Leicester, Burnley and Norwich.

After that, they face West Ham, Brighton, Manchester United and Watford before their crunch meeting with Pep Guardiola's champions. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Klopp's men win them all.

The Reds are also penciled to play Cardiff in the FA Cup, Chelsea in the EFL Cup final and Inter Milan twice in the last 16 of the Champions League.

On the flip side, City, have some tricky matches coming up.

Their next eight league outings are against Brentford, Norwich, Tottenham, Everton, Man Utd, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Burnley.

That doesn't seem too bad on paper, but those City fans who scratch beneath the surface will be concerned.

The leaders have lost just twice all season and both of those defeats were against teams on the horizon: Spurs and Palace.

Guardiola's team actually have a concerning record against the latter side, winning just half of their last eight Premier League meetings.

And it's impossible to predict the Manchester derby. City have been dominant in recent years, yet United somehow manage to grind out results against them.

The Red Devils won at the Etihad last season and City's win at Old Trafford in November was their first since in the Premier League since April 2019.

City fans may argue that Liverpool