“Luck of penalty shootouts” Paul Merson agrees with Pep Guardiola as he makes a brutal claim on Liverpool trophies

“Luck of penalty shootouts” Paul Merson agrees with Pep Guardiola as he makes a brutal claim on Liverpool trophies

Liverpool’s success in cup competitions this season, according to Paul Merson, has been down to the luck of penalty shootouts, and he believes the Premier League remains the most difficult title to win.

This comes after Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated that winning the Premier League is more difficult than winning the Champions League.

“The Premier League is the ultimate. It’s 38 games in the hardest competition in the world, said Pep.

“If you win it, you are the best. Jurgen Klopp has done an absolutely phenomenal job at Liverpool this season but if he doesn’t win the league he isn’t manager of the year for me.

“Don’t forget Liverpool were put in a Champions League group they could have walked through, and they’ve won both domestic cups on penalties. They didn’t win the games. If you think City should be disappointed somehow if they only win the league and Liverpool win a treble, you’d be wrong. I don’t see that at all.”

City are on the verge of winning their fourth Premier League title in five seasons, with a win over Aston Villa at home in their last game of the season on Sunday enough to proclaim them winners regardless of what second-placed Liverpool achieves against Wolves at Anfield.

Liverpool are still in with a chance of winning the Premier League title ahead of Sunday’s clash with Wolves, but Manchester City are likely to beat Aston Villa to take the crown.

Regardless of whether Jurgen Klopp’s team wins, it has been a wonderful season that might end with another trophy for the cabinet.

On May 28, Liverpool will face Real Madrid in the Champions League final, with a win in Paris completing a treble of titles.

Despite Liverpool’s success in cup competitions this season, Merson has controversially declared that City recovering the Premier League title would be a better achievement.

The former Arsenal player stated in his Daily Star column: “Pep Guardiola is still the manager of the year if Manchester City win the title – and it’s harder now than when Manchester United were doing it.

“The Premier League is the ultimate. It’s 38 games in the hardest competition in the world. If you win it, you are the best. Jurgen Klopp has done an absolutely phenomenal job at Liverpool this season but if he doesn’t win the league he isn’t manager of the year for me.

“Don’t forget Liverpool were put in a Champions League group they could have walked through, and they’ve won both domestic cups on penalties. They didn’t win the games. If you think City should be disappointed somehow if they only win the league and Liverpool win a treble, you’d be wrong. I don’t see that at all.

“I’m glad for Liverpool that they’ve taken the title race to the final day. To win two cup finals, be in another, and push City all the way, is amazing. It’s phenomenal what they’ve done. But at the start of the season it’s all about one thing. The Premier League. Thirty-eight games. Home and away. To be the best in the country. Don’t buy into all this hype about the Champions League. That’s just about egos. You could lose more games in that than you do all season in the Premier League and still win it!”

Continuing his praise for the Sky Blues, Merson added: “City can be so proud of themselves if they win another championship. That would be four titles in the last five years and that is dominant at the highest level. It goes under the radar a bit sometimes. I don’t think we give them enough credit. They keep churning out titles and go deep in every other tournament too. They’re exceptional.”

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“Luck of penalty shootouts” Paul Merson agrees with Pep Guardiola as he makes a brutal claim on Liverpool trophies