Jurgen Klopp's Reds two points ahead of Pep Guardiola's side, who have game in hand; watch both clubs in PL action live on Sky Sports this week
Monday 1 April 2019 14:31, UK
Manchester City and Liverpool are neck-and-neck in the title race as the season enters its penultimate month - and April looks set to be decisive.
Only two points divide the clubs going into April, which means it's the closest title race at this stage of a season since 2013/14.
Incidentally, that was the season when Liverpool topped the table by two points but ended up as runners-up... behind Manchester City.
In fact, it's only been closer on three occasions since the turn of the century, in 2001/02, 2008/09 and 2009/10.
As the graphic below shows, the Premier League leaders on April 1 have proceeded to claim the title in each of the previous four seasons - but Liverpool's failed title tilt in 2014 was the the last time a team led in April and missed out on the crown.
Before that, United had topped the table going into the penultimate month in 2011/12, but ended up as runners-up after Sergio Aguero scored a title-winning goal in the 94th minute against QPR on the final day.
But is April the crunch month for champions to step forward and deliver?
Sky Sports looked at the win percentages of Premier League champions in each calendar month during their title-winning campaigns since 1992/93 to find out...
On average, champions have hit top form in January and maintained above-average levels until the end of April, before dipping in the month of May, when the title has usually been won and there are fewer games.
However, eventual champions have often had hiccups during April in recent years, with Manchester United being the last team to record a 100 per cent win rate in the Premier League during that month - 10 years ago, in 2008/09.
The year before that, United nearly capitulated during April with just one win out of four fixtures, ceding ground to an in-form Chelsea before holding on to finish the season as champions, two points clear of the Blues.
Sir Alex Ferguson led United to their most recent title in his final season as boss back in 2012/13 - but only won 40 per cent of his games in April. However, United had entered the month 15 points clear of second-placed Manchester City, so had plenty of leeway.
Pep Guardiola's side have since emerged as the dominant force in Manchester, but only won 60 per cent of games in April during their title-winning 2013/14 campaign and 75 per cent last term - famously losing 3-2 to United at the Etihad, when they had the chance to clinch the crown against their local rivals.
This season, Jurgen Klopp's side have an advantage to mitigate City's game in hand: the Manchester club have a gruelling, eight-game schedule in April, compared with Liverpool's six fixtures in all competitions.
In addition, both clubs could potentially be playing in a Champions League semi-final first leg on the final day of this month.
So history suggests April is a crunch month for eventual champions. And with the top two failing to cede ground, echoes of the final-day bedlam in 2012 become louder by the day.
It's time for champions to step up.
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