Premier League winners and big old Liverpool losers Date published: Monday 8th February 2021 7:33 - Sarah Winterburn Winners Manchester City Is that the title race over in February, a third Premier League procession in four years? Perhaps. Manchester City now have a five-point lead and a game in hand. Even their tricky run of fixtures, the return of domestic cup ties and Champions League assignments don’t offer enough hope to the teams below them, particularly given that those supposed rivals are stalling themselves. More pertinently for this column, Pep Guardiola got it spot on on Sunday, notable given his tendency to go rogue on days like these. Fabinho has flourished as a central defender when being allowed to man-mark a focal-point centre forward. By picking Phil Foden as a false nine (and allowing Bernardo Silva to join him after the break for the double version of the same plan), Guardiola forced Fabinho to step up to close off the spaces between defence and midfield. It’s amazing how much harder it is to do that when you don’t have central defensive cover in behind you. Fabinho looked spooked, run ragged by Foden and Raheem Sterling. Read