Manchester City leapfrogged Arsenal and Liverpool to the top of the Premier League table after inflicting a heavy 5-1 defeat on Luton Town at the Etihad on Saturday.
The Cityzens were widely expected to win with a sizeable margin, and they met those expectations, snatching all three points with relative ease.
The case was different for Liverpool at the weekend, as they stumbled against Crystal Palace in front of their own fans, losing 1-0. It was a shock loss for the Reds, as they were expected to see off their mid-table opponents.
Arsenal also stumbled over the weekend, as they failed to beat Aston Villa in front of their own fans as well. The Gunners lost 2-0, meaning they too dropped points in the Premier League title race.
City sit at the top of the table, two points ahead of both the Gunners and the Reds, who are second and third respectively and former Reds manager Benitez has named City as the club with a big advantage.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Benitez said (via GOAL):
“Manchester City are playing with a lot of confidence. Liverpool had some bad luck with the finishing because they had some chances [vs Crystal Palace] but it was still complicated.”
He added:
“They [Man City] have a good squad, they can change three or four players and still win easily, so they know the strengths that they have. Can I see them making similar mistakes as Liverpool and Arsenal did this weekend? Yes, I can. But at the same time, the others could make mistakes so I think City have a great advantage.”
Arsenal will need to get back into winning form when they return to the Premier League next weekend, as they face Wolves away from home.
In other games, they take on Chelsea and Tottenham in the league and Manchester United in May.
As for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp will be asking what went wrong. Before their 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, they lost 3-0 in the Europa League quarterfinal to Atalanta.
They face the Italian giants away from home in midweek before returning to the Premier League, where they face the likes of Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.
