Jonathan Woodgate and Martin Keown have backed Manchester City to retain the Premier League, as Liverpool will now struggle to keep the title-race close after selling Sadio Mane.
Woodgate and Keown back Manchester City over Liverpool in title-race
Jonathan Woodgate has told BBC Sport that Manchester City will win the 2022/23 Premier League title by a ‘much wider margin’, as Liverpool will struggle to keep the title-race close after selling Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich for an initial £27.5m, rising up to £35m, in June.
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Martin Keown also believes the title will likely return to the Etihad Stadium for a third year in succession. Pep Guardiola retained the Citizens’ crown last term after edging the Anfield natives by just a single point. Manchester City took 93 from 114 points over Liverpool’s 92.
Mane played an instrumental role in Liverpool pushing Manchester City to the final day in the title-race. The Senegalese sensation scored 16 goals – only Mohamed Salah (23) struck more for the Reds. He also laid on a further four assists from the 30-year-old’s 34 matches.
But it is not just the Bayern Munich addition’s attacking input that Woodgate feels Jurgen Klopp will now miss. Instead, the former England international believes Mane’s departure has left the Merseyside outfit weaker as his work while the opponent had the ball was key.
“Liverpool are going to miss Sadio Mane badly because he brought so much to the team with his closing down, as well as his goals,” he said. “Without him, I don’t see the title race being as close as it was last season – I think City win the league by a much wider margin.”
Keown hails Mane as leading light of vital trait in Klopp’s set-up
Keown, likewise, feels selling Mane to Bayern Munich has left Liverpool weaker, and given Manchester City an edge in the 2022/23 Premier League title-race. The Arsenal icon notes how the 91-cap international was the leading light of a vital trait in Klopp’s Anfield set-up.
“Liverpool are the best pressers in world football, and Mane was best at it,” Keown added. “So, for them to be better without him is hard for me to take on board.”
Mane ranked 18th across the entire Premier League last term for his volume of pressures in the attacking third. The former Liverpool dynamo put opposition players on their heels while receiving, carrying or releasing the ball a total of 202 times, according to FBref data.
Diogo Jota and Salah both ranked higher than Mane, with the Portuguese and Egyptian in joint-seventh with 254 pressures. Jota and Salah additionally registered more pressures in the defensive third (98 and 67) than Mane (57), and Jota had the most in the middle (237).
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