Title race blown open as Liverpool's unlikely lads Alisson and Van Dijk gift Gunners victory
Of all the people. At all of the places...
If come May 19 and Jurgen Klopp's Anfield farewell turns out to coincide with yet another Premier League near miss the German will surely forever be haunted by minute 67 at the Emirates Stadium.
The match poised at 1-1 and his side on top yet somehow two of his most trusted lieutenants, all-time Kop greats in their own right, combined to create the cock-up that threw the title race wide open.
That it was Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, the final pieces in the jigsaw that made the glory days of the Klopp era possible, made an egregious error all the more extraordinary.
Van Dijk was jostling for a bouncing long ball with Gabriel Martinelli but made no attempt to hook it away. There could only be one reason for that: the Dutchman must have got the call from his goalkeeper. Who indeed come charging out of his penalty area, a flash of orange.
And in the blink of an eye, Arsenal and Manchester City saw their chances of glory increase in the most unexpected fashion. Alisson fluffed his attempted hoof upfield and van Dijk could only watch in horror as Martinelli, as surprised as anybody, side-footed into an empty net.
What explanation could there possibly be for such a calamity? That Klopp announcing his departure mid-season has let complacency flood in? After all, that was what happened with Manchester United, when Alex Ferguson announced, and then binned, his first decision to retire in 2002.
Occam's razor is a useful tool even in football however and the simplest theory is often the truest: even superstars can make mistakes. Now it is all about how the league leaders react in the next few games.
The same applies to Arsenal and Manchester City of course. The Gunners are just two points
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