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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst & Paul Gorst

So, to paraphrase Curtis Jones, what a week that was then at Liverpool

Six more points on the board for Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool have taken them to within a whisker of top spot in the Premier League and the Reds manager is now breathing down the neck of Pep Guardiola with just one point separating the two great rivals.

It promises to be an electric few weeks following, supporting and indeed covering Liverpool then, doesn't it?

In another busy few days that have taken supporters to Brighton and London - with a trip to Nottingham still to come on Sunday - the Reds have been able to take their biggest step forward yet in the title race after taking full advantage of Manchester City's stumble at Crystal Palace on Monday by beating Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates.

Arsenal used to be something of a measuring stick for Liverpool and where their various 'projects' were up to in terms of progress. They were a side who always seemed to be just that bit further along in their own development over much of this century.

They had an iconic manager whose power and influence spread right across the club in Arsene Wenger and the Gunners were a real force against which Liverpool could gauge their own efforts during those years as the settled nature of their club helped recruit a string of fairly unheralded names before they became world stars.

Those roles are decidedly reversed now with Klopp at the helm at Anfield and for all Mikel Arteta's progress this season, he will know he has some way to go to get near this current Liverpool team - one who they did not score past in four meetings this season. Since November Arsenal have been beaten home and away in the Premier League and dumped out of the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage by Liverpool. Arteta will hope it is some time before they meet again.

It's a first trip to Nottingham Forest this week for the first time since 1999 this weekend as the FA Cup comes into focus for a quadruple-chasing Liverpool. The Reds have the squad to be able to make a string of changes but with the international break upcoming, perhaps there is no need to rest too many this weekend.

It's another big game, of course. They all are nowadays and nothing is off the table right now.

Elsewhere this week, I wanted to make mention of two things happening in our community because Lord knows we could use some good news in the wider scheme of things right now, away from football.

Firstly, it was great to see Jamie Carragher team up with Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin as part of the Football For Change initiative to raise £250,000 for community foundations across Lancashire and Merseyside.

Carragher is also set to team up once more with Steven Gerrard later this month for a special Q&A session hosted by broadcaster Alastair Campbell at the Football For Change VIP Chairman's lunch.

Having covered the formation of FFC since its early days in 2020, I know first hand the great work they continue to do across the region.

And secondly, hats off to the Spirit of Shankly after they combined with the Nottingham Forest Supporters' Trust to pay tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

Representatives of the Forest Trust and fans who witnessed the events on that tragic day in April 1989 travelled to Anfield to lay a commemorative wreath at the Hillsborough Memorial on St Patrick's Day.

Well done to everyone involved in both of those ventures, proving that football can still be a force for plenty of good as it continues to be dragged through the mud following the much-needed conversations over just who is allowed to own these community institutions.

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