Air inside the trains and coaches down from the north filled with the same chat yesterday afternoon. Manchester City, their supporters and staff, were nervous about this one. Very nervous, actually.
Sometimes in football that is unexplainable. Just a feeling: an impending sense of doom for no real reason. Yet City are more than adept at grinding out big wins on occasions such as this. So why the anxiety?
All that was easily explained by the end. Crystal Palace dealt a major blow to Pep Guardiola’s hunt for a fourth Premier League crown in five years.
Anything but victories just will not do for either City or Liverpool now.