Virgil van Dijk, Phil Foden and Declan Rice will decide the title race - Today Headline

Source: TodayHeadline
Author: Kathy D. Woodward

Liverpool want the quadruple. Manchester City seek another treble. Phil Foden, Virgil van Dijk and Declan Rice can secure themselves a double.

One of the trio can be a Premier League champion and Player of the Year in 2024.

The next two league match days will go a long way to influencing who wins, with City facing Liverpool and Arsenal in successive games. All three player of the year contenders are the main contributors driving their sides forward, the consistently outstanding performers in a high level run of form which shows no sign of stopping.

Whoever emerges on top over the next few weeks will have won a personal battle against their direct rival. They would prefer to win the war.

To have two clubs fighting for the title at the end of the season is the Premier League's dream. To have three is paradise for those wishing to present English football as the most competitive and entertaining in the world.

We rarely have this situation in the Premier League and it should be savoured, with all three clubs hopefully remaining in contention until the end. It is a tribute to the way in which Liverpool and Arsenal are run that for all City's financial advantage, their title wins have been prevented from becoming an annual procession.

What makes it better is two of those involved in the triangle which will determine who become champions will be focal points of Gareth Southgate's European championship bid.

For Foden and Rice, this is already a golden period, the duo already aware how it feels to lift a major trophy.

With good reason, most people still believe City will retain their crown. If they were to lose to Liverpool and Arsenal, it would make it more difficult but you could still see them recovering. By contrast, if Arsenal and Liverpool lose to City, the case for them to retrieve the situation is less compelling. It is far from all-or-nothing for Liverpool this Sunday, or for Arsenal at the Etihad on March 31, but they know from bitter experience how few points City drop in the run-in.

The difference between City, Liverpool and Arsenal is this: take Van Dijk or Rice out of their side, and neither club would be contenders. City would still be thriving without Foden. That is a reflection of the depth of their squad rather than intended to downplay his brilliance.

I have long championed Foden. In terms of pure talent, he is England's best player, and a break from tradition in terms of what he brings to his club and country.

When you think of the best English footballers, the qualities most admired tend to be a combination of physicality and athleticism with technique.

From my generation, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney were archetypal English players; a potent combination of power, skill and courage. Ask overseas players or coaches what image they have of the most accomplished England players, and they will talk about the warriors with enhanced technical ability.

Foden is more like a Spanish or Portuguese footballer; a slight, quick-footed dribbler with a tactical intelligence developed by Guardiola. The biggest compliment that could be offered is that he would not look out of place in Guardiola's legendary Barcelona team.

Now he is coming-of-age, the natural heir to Kevin De Bruyne. There has never been any doubt about his quality, but for some reason he has often found himself the odd one out. He did not start last season's Champions League final, and there was bemusement at how often he was overlooked throughout the last World Cup. He is yet to nail down a role as a permanent starter for Southgate.

That will surely change before this summer's Euros. Southgate can not let the choice between Foden and Bukayo Saka become this era's Gerrard or Frank Lampard debate. It is a manager's job to find a way to ensure the best players flourish rather than just shoe-horning them in.

Foden, Saka and Jude Bellingham must all be in Southgate's best XI in a system that works.

So too, of course, must Rice.

It has taken no time to consider the £105 million Arsenal paid to West Ham in the same way as the £75 million Liverpool paid Southampton for Van Dijk. A bargain.