Liverpool truth rivals won't want to know after bizarre Premier League claim

Liverpool truth rivals won't want to know after bizarre Premier League claim

Are Liverpool stumbling their way to becoming unconvincing Premier League champions? Ian Doyle sets the record straight with the cold, hard, indisputable raw facts

Arne Slot looks on prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and West Ham United FC at Anfield on April 13, 2025 (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images )

This is arguably the worst Premier League season in the history of the competition. And Liverpool are stumbling their way towards becoming unconvincing champions.

Well, at least that's what a growing voice of opinion from outside Merseyside would have people believe as the Reds continue their progress towards a record-equalling 20th championship.

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From among opposing supporters, this is entirely understandable and has been part of the game for time immemorial. The desire to devalue and denigrate the achievements of bitter rivals is a failing from which Liverpool fans are not immune.

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But perceived tribalism is now being imparted by those who should really know an awful lot better than to be sucked into, or actively promote, such bizarre narratives.

Let's take emotion out of the equation for now and just deal with cold, hard, indisputable raw facts.

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Liverpool currently stand 13 points clear of Arsenal at the Premier League summit with Sunday's 2-1 home win over West Ham United moving them on to 76 points from 32 games.

Only 11 teams in Premier League history have taken more points at this stage of the season. All bar two went on to be champions - in 2011/12, Manchester United threw away an eight-point lead to lose the title on goal difference to neighbours City, while in 2018/19 Liverpool were a point behind City and ended up missing out by the same amount.

So, Arne Slot's are very much operating above the average for a regular Premier League campaign.

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Now on to league form. Given the defeat to Fulham earlier this month - only a second loss in the entire top-flight season - Liverpool have taken 12 points from their last five games. In the same period, just Wolves, with 13, have gained greater reward, and that has been the result of their best top-flight run of victories since 1972. Pretty unusual, then.

Extend that to the last 10 games, and Liverpool are four points better off than anyone else. It's a kind of stumble of which Keyser Soze would be proud.

Regards the strength of the league, much has been made of the three promoted teams having been cut adrift. That, though, perhaps underlines just how strong the previously-established teams in the top flight have become.

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Consider this. West Ham are presently in 17th place and can boast the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and the impressive Lucas Paqueta. They were close to snatching a point at Anfield at the weekend and in February won at Arsenal.

Wolves in 16th are the form team in the league and have Brazil internationals Matheus Cunha, Joao Gomes and Andre in their squad. The teams in 14th and 15th, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, remain very much in the hunt for the Europa League.

And above them are Everton, who at the weekend became only the third team this season to win in the Premier League at third-placed Nottingham Forest, held second-placed Arsenal to two draws and, of course, took a point at Goodison against neighbours Liverpool.

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That England has already secured an extra place in the Champions League for next season highlights how well Premier League teams have done this season in European competition.

But while Arsenal thrashed reigning European champions Real Madrid last week, they evidently have been incapable of challenging on two major fronts. Worth remembering the continent's form team, Paris Saint-Germain, eliminated Liverpool only on penalties in the round of 16, a titanic tussle the efforts from which heavily impacted on the Reds' dismal League Cup final reverse to Newcastle United a few days later.

Nobody could contend Liverpool are playing their best football at present. A number of players look jaded and are lacking sharpness, while there has been a curious lack of composure among some with the finishing line almost in sight.

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But the thrilling title battles during the Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp era, when Manchester City and Liverpool would trade wins week after week, have skewed perceptions of a what a championship challenge should involve. They were not normal campaigns.

More representative, and a useful comparison for this season, is Liverpool's title win of 1982/83, the second of three in succession.

With seven games remaining, the Reds had opened up a 16-point lead at the top of the table having been eliminated from Europe in the March and recently featured in the League Cup final.

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They took only two more points, losing five times. Indeed, their title win was confirmed when, having lost 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur with four games remaining, nearest challengers Manchester United drew at Norwich City, meaning Liverpool couldn't be caught. The following season, the championship was secured despite only two wins from their last eight league games. Nobody remembers either team as stumbling to the crown.

Liverpool aren't there yet this season, and Slot will hope his side can seal the title as soon as possible, with only six more points required from the final six games. Regardless of Arsenal's results, wins at Leicester City on Sunday and at home to Tottenham a week later will allow for a victory lap throughout May.

And, should Virgil van Dijk finally get his hands on the Premier League trophy, nothing can detract from what would be a remarkable achievement for many reasons.

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