1. A favourable fixture list
LIVERPOOL HAVE THE second best home record in the Premier League and still have Manchester City (18 points dropped on the road) and Chelsea (20 points dropped on the road) to visit Anfield.
On top of that, only Arsenal have a better record against teams in the bottom half of the table having won 12 of 15 such fixtures and losing just one. With five more games of this type to come — including three against teams currently in the bottom four — the Reds will be hoping to finish the season with 23-27 points from nine games.
23 will put them on 85 points which has only been enough to win the title once in the last five years but given that it involves taking points off two of their closest rivals, it could well be enough this year.
2. Fresher players
Having no European football turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Brendan Rodgers’ men this year, especially after they fell at the first hurdle in the League Cup back in September too.
Having only played 34 games in all competitions this season, a figure Chelsea (48), Manchester City (46) and Arsenal (45) reached way back on January 18, there’s no doubt which of the title challengers come in with the fresher legs.
Added to the fact Chelsea and Arsenal still have distractions other than the Premier League and it’s yet another pointer in favour of a Liverpool title challenge.
3. Suarez and Sturridge
Liverpool have bagged 76 goals in the league this year and scored five goals twice as often (four times) as they have scored none. Their average of 2.62 goals per game is only bettered by Manchester City (2.63).
A huge part of their success in front of goal has been down to Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge who between them have found the back of the net 43 times in the league, more than the total scored by all bar four other teams.
SAS also have a combined 16 assists too so if Brendan Rodgers can keep his star strikers healthy for the run in, Liverpool could well score 100 goals this season.
4. Dead ball usage
It’s a statistic that was boosted by some calamitous Manchester United defending last weekend but no team has scored as many goals from dead balls this year as the Reds.
17 of those have come from set pieces with a further eight dispatched from the penalty spot. That figure is double the next best (Chelsea, Spurs, Sunderland and Crystal Place) with six of them coming away from Anfield.
5. Momentum
No team enters the final stretch of the season in better form than Liverpool. They’ve won five games in a row and haven’t tasted defeat in the league since back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City — both away — between Christmas and New Year.
Since then, their form guide reads played 10, won eight, drawn two. That compares favourably to Manchester City (W8, L1, D1), Chelsea (W7, D2, L1) and Arsenal (W6, D2, L2).
So, what to you think. Can Liverpool bridge a 24-year gap and win the Premier League? Let us know in the comments below.
Note: We’ll be making the case for each team in the top four over the next two days.
