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Lucas Leiva has said that Liverpool will win the Premier League title – and not drop another point – if they can get ahead of Manchester City.

The two sides are once again facing off for the English top flight crown. In fact, this is the third edition of this particular title race in four years. City edged out Liverpool by 98 points to 97 in 2019 in the first real battle.

But Liverpool triumphed in 2019/20, reaching 99 points. Man City dropped off with 81 that season, but bounced back to reclaim the title last season.

Liverpool suffered the same fate last term due to a host of key injuries to the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson.

However, both sides are back to their best and separated by only six points at the business end of the season. Liverpool must keep winning to keep the pressure on City, who know a slip up of their own could prove costly.

Speaking to The Athletic, Brazilian midfielder Lucas offered his bold prediction on how the title race will pan out. The 34-year-old joined Liverpool under Rafael Benitez in 2007 but left for Italy in 2017 on Jurgen Klopp’s watch.

“Nobody expected that Liverpool would be in this position by March,” Lucas said.

“City were ahead by miles. But it shows the mentality of Liverpool and how difficult the Premier League is.

“Now the league is open, completely open and I have the feeling that if Liverpool gets in front, they will not drop any more points.”

Liverpool have to go to City in April in a particularly defining fixture. However, both sides are still in the FA Cup and Champions League. Therefore, they could yet play each other in more high-profile encounters before the season ends.

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Lucas spent almost two seasons with Klopp and lauded the German as a “very honest” and “fantastic” person.

He added that the Liverpool camp could “smell” that “things were changing” under Klopp and that the “great moments” of the club would return.

Lucas Leiva lauds Luis Alberto for Liverpool

Elsewhere in his interview with The Athletic, Lucas insisted that ex-Reds team-mate Luis Alberto was unfortunate not to star in his own spell at Anfield.

The Spaniard signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2013. He played a bit-part role as the Reds went close to the Premier League title in his debut season.

From there, though, Alberto went on two successive loans to Spain and was eventually sold to Lazio in 2016.

Lucas said of a man he has spent a great deal of his career with: “He was very young when he came to Liverpool like I was when I arrived.

“Probably he didn’t have the luck I had in having a manager who could maybe have been a bit more patient with him

“The quality was always there and he had to go to Spain to get more experience.

“Then he moved to Lazio and his first year wasn’t easy. But afterwards, he just found himself. He could show his qualities and has been one of the best players in the league the last few years. His quality in the final third is incredible.”

Klopp has transformed Liverpool fortunes

Another player who was in the spotlight during Alberto’s time at Liverpool was Jordan Henderson.

The midfielder almost left Liverpool for Fulham in 2013, but persuaded Brendan Rodgers to keep him at the club.

From there, he became a driving force in the team. Indeed, he has gone on to lift five major trophies under Klopp.

And Klopp has transformed Liverpool’s fortunes on the way to potentially more silverware this season.

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