Premier League: Title Race is in Liverpool’s Hands Now

Following Manchester City’s loss against Newcastle on Tuesday, Liverpool can go 7 points clear atop the Premier League, with a strangle-hold on the title race.

Gosh, it’s been a long, long time since Liverpool last triumphed over England’s first division, with their last being all the way back in 1990, when Manchester United were a bottom half side and Aston Villa were title challengers. A generation and more has passed since then, and now, Liverpool’s brilliant 2018-19 team is looking likely to finally achieve the feat that has evaded them for so long- win the Premier League.

With Manchester City’s shocking loss on Tuesday to Newcastle, Liverpool have the chance to regain their 7 point lead atop the league on Wednesday against Leicester City. Despite having a good chunk of the season still to go, Liverpool do look by far the most likely side to win the title at this point.

Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, and United have all fallen into irrelevancy in the title race, and Manchester City’s losses to Palace, Leicester, and Newcastle are clear signs of weaknesses that simply were not present last season. The Reds however, have displayed no such weakness, losing just once up to this point.

Liverpool would be deserved title winners, as they have built their squad brilliantly and modestly.

No oil money, no billionaire investment, no money laundering, no lawsuits. It’s been a flawless model of a plan that Liverpool have carried out in terms of squad building in recent seasons. They took their time, spending modest sums here and there, waiting for the manager to show progress before truly displaying their full spending power.

It’s a model that many clubs in the future will try and adopt. Over the course of the last few years, Liverpool brought in cheap, under-the-radar additions that have grown into first-team players (Gomez, Robertson, Shaqiri), free transfers and academy graduates to add depth (Milner, Alexander-Arnold, Matip), top-class forwards on bargain deals (Salah, Mane, Firmino), and then spent the big bucks when they knew they were on the verge of something special (Van Dijk, Fabinho, Alisson, Keita). It has been a true journey for Liverpool, and it seems that everything has clicked perfectly into place.

Jurgen Klopp deserves so much credit for patiently building this side from the ground up. The contrast in the squad quality from when he took over to now is massive, and a lot of it comes down to his brilliant man-management and tendency to over-achieve.

The title race is in Liverpool’s hands now, it’s theirs to lose, but it was a similar situation back in 2014.

We all know the story. With 3 matches to go in the 2013-14 Premier League season, Liverpool were 5 points clear atop the league with a chance to end their title drought. A Gerrard slip and a Crystal Palace comeback later, it was Manchester City, not Liverpool, lifting the Premier League trophy. It was a true story of heartbreak for the Reds, who were so, so close to their goal. It’s this story in particular that makes us think that this title race has not seen its last turn. Sure, the Reds are firm favourites, but if they let it slip once, there’s a chance they will do it again.

This time round though, they look a lot more stable a side. Sure they don’t have a Steven Gerrard in midfield nor a prime Luis Suarez up front, but this side is balanced, tactically disciplined, and are set up in a far more structured manner. The title race is all in Liverpool’s hands once again, and they have no choice but to finish on top this time round.