After the Premier League ground to a halt last week, Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has sympathised with Liverpool’s current situation.
With a 25-point lead at the top of the table with just nine games to be played, the Merseyside giants were on the verge of ending their title drought.
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However, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Premier League took the decision last week to suspend all fixtures after high-profile cases were confirmed involving the likes of Mikel Arteta and Callum Hudson-Odoi, with the intention to return from April 4 onwards.
It remains to be seen if it is deemed safe and proper to do so at that stage with the number of cases and deaths increasing every day in the UK, and so that will likely impact on the Premier League and the conclusion of the campaign.
There has been much debate over what will happen. From the season being considered null and void to the current standings being the final positions to even waiting for as long as it takes to complete the campaign, it remains to be seen what the decision is.
If there isn’t a fair conclusion, namely the remaining fixtures are all played and we have our final standings, Merson has revealed why he feels for Liverpool.
“It’s all well saying Liverpool are 25 points clear, but if I played snooker with my mate tomorrow, and I needed 25 snookers to win, and he said: ‘The game has finished, there’s no point playing on!’ – for the next week or two, I’d be saying: ‘But I could have won that!’ he told Sky Sports.
“You really feel for them, waiting 30 years for a title. If it was Manchester City 25 points clear, nobody would care! Because they’ve won it already. This team hasn’t won it for 30 years! This is like a film.
“I really feel for them; even if you gave them the league now, mathematically it’s not won. I know they’ve won it in essence, we all know that, but it’s not the same! It’s a shame.”
Merson went on to emphasis the point that because not all teams had played the same number of games, it has led to an even more difficult situation in which certain clubs will have a serious issue with any decision which saw things end as they stand.
It would have major implications on the Champions League positions, the relegation battle and the promotion scrap in the Championship.
The only way to resolve it in a way which is fair to every club is to finish the season. However, that all depends on the coronavirus crisis and whether or not it allows for that to happen.