Former Liverpool legend John Barnes has all but crowned Man City Premier League champions after claiming that challengers Liverpool and Chelsea are too far behind.
City currently hold a 10-point lead over the Blues and are 11 points clear of Jurgen Klopp's side, who have a game in hand.
Chelsea and Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw on Sunday which helped neither side close the gap on Pep Guardiola's men.
Despite there being 17 games left to play in the league, 18 for Liverpool, Barnes believes that neither his former club nor Chelsea can turn it around as it's 'difficult' to envisage City dropping enough points between now and May.
"It’s going to be very difficult for either of them to catch Man City now," Barnes told BonusCodeBets.co.uk. "You never say it’s over, but for City to drop that many points and for Liverpool and Chelsea to get so many points will be difficult.
"I have to praise Chelsea because they played really well [against Liverpool] under difficult circumstances.
"After the whole [Romelu] Lukaku situation and then going 2-0 down, it could have been a disaster, but they showed spirit, togetherness and belief, and they were the better side.
"Liverpool were disappointed to be 2-0 up and not finish the game, but I think you have to praise Chelsea more than criticise Liverpool.
"I still make Liverpool second-favourites and Chelsea third favourites. Football is a funny old game but City seem to be playing with a lot of resilience. Even when they don’t play well - as we saw against Arsenal - they win."
City welcome Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium on January 15.
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