Roma boss Jose Mourinho has given Manchester City the slight edge over Liverpool in this season’s title race.

Despite Pep Guardiola’s side trailing league leaders Arsenal by five points after Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace, Mourinho said that the Cityzens remain favourites to retain their crown, with Liverpool likely to be their closest rivals:

“I would say Man City 51 [percent] and Liverpool 49 [percent]”.

When he was asked about Arsenal’s title chances, Mourinho was pretty dismissive, although he did admit that he would be happy if Mikel Arteta’s side were to finish top:

“Nah! Rivalry apart, I would like them to win. Of course, Chelsea is not going to win. It is out of the question. Manchester United is not going to win it too. So it is between these three and out of these three I would like Arsenal to win it.”

City have work to do if they want to get back into the title race

It is certainly not uncommon for City to be trailing their rivals at the midway point of the season. There have been numerous examples over recent years where Guardiola’s team have come on strong after Christmas.

The reigning champions are clearly capable of putting a run of form together to chase down the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool. However, they have been dropping too many points, and that has to stop sooner rather than later.

The fixture schedule should help City

If you look at the games that Guardiola’s side have coming up after the Club World Cup, you would expect them to put a few wins on the board. Apart from Newcastle, they don’t play anyone in the top 10 again until they face Mourinho’s former team Chelsea on February 17th.

Of course, as we saw against Palace, there is a danger of slipping up even in what are perceived to be easier fixtures.