Liverpool might have lost against Fulham over the weekend but Arne Slot’s side is still set to cruise towards the Premier League title. It needs a maximum of another 11 points to confirm itself as champion.
As ever, though, the narrative is still being shaped. Is Liverpool set to be a “bad” league title winner? Does such a thing even exist? It doesn’t take much of a blip — one Premier League defeat — for the questions to get louder.
The reality is that Liverpool fans won’t care if the perception is that the league was weaker this season as they delight in the celebrations. Even if it was true, it wouldn’t dampen the trophy parade when the time comes.
It is not accurate, however, to say that Liverpool will be undeserving of the crown. Liverpool is on track to finish on 89 points at its current rate and the Reds could still end this season on as many as 94 points. Only five teams have ever got more than that — two of which are Liverpool (in 2018/19, when it came second, and 2019/20, when it ended its three-decade drought).
While no two Premier League seasons have exactly the same level of teams competing in them and are therefore never entirely equal, the argument that the quality has dropped this year doesn’t hold weight either. There are more teams vying for the European spots than ever before, and that Manchester United and Spurs are 13th and 14th respectively says plenty about how many teams are better.
Even West Ham United, with the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus, sits in 16th place. The bottom three sides have been poor but 17th-placed Wolves have one of the elite players in the division in Matheus Cunha. There are, as the cliche goes, no easy games. And Fulham proved that at Craven Cottage.
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“Obviously they had a difficult spell a few weeks ago going out of Europe and losing the cup final to Newcastle,” Roy Keane said on Sky Sports yesterday. “But they have bounced back well and they had a good win against Everton.
“It’s well and good sitting here criticizing the other teams’ points totals, saying they’ve not challenged Liverpool. But that’s not their problem.”
It is true that Manchester City and Arsenal have failed to stop Liverpool, but the Reds being so consistent — losing just twice in the league — is still very impressive. The Gunners have not really put the pressure on, but that isn’t Slot’s fault.
“Liverpool have been consistent and that’s the reason you win league titles: you’re efficient, consistent,” Keane continued. “We look at their stats and they’re fantastic so maybe they deserve a bit more credit.
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“Whatever’s happened to the other teams — yes, we didn’t think Man City would be dropping off so much and would be 20 points behind — but the other teams haven’t stepped up to the plate.
“That’s down to Liverpool’s consistency — they’ve been brilliant. To win the league title, we talk about stats all the time, but when you get that league medal, there are no stats on the back of your medal.
“You’ve won it and it should mean a hell of a lot to you. Don’t take anything away from them the fact other teams haven’t been great in terms of chasing them down.”
In truth, Slot and his players won’t be thinking about the desperate attempts to do down their achievements as they kickstart what will be a glorious celebration of a league title triumph. As Keane says, that isn’t their problem.
