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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Can Liverpool Win the Premier League Title?


Sunday afternoon witnessed yet another chapter in the fabled rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United that has captured the attention of football fans worldwide.

Such is the Premier League's influence these days that nowadays, this game gets as much coverage and attention as the Superclassico in Spain or other classic derbies in Europe.


Indeed, many of the fans cheering for both sides would have found the game and result surreal - Liverpool totally outclassing Manchester United 3-0 on their hallowed turf at Old Trafford.

To be fair, this season has been quite a surreal one for younger Manchester United fans, particularly those born after April 21, 1993 - the day Steve Bruce scored a brace to give Manchester United their first league title since the 1960s.


Many would not have seen a Manchester United side this uncompetitive and irrelevant to the Premier League title race.

Many older fans would have been a bit more familiar with this - and their fiercest rivals, Liverpool, being the ones with the momentum over their rivals, and in the title race.

Going into this game, Liverpool were 14 points ahead of Manchester United in the race, their biggest ever margin in the Premier League era, and 7 points behind the leaders, Chelsea with a game in hand.

In the last 21 years or so, Liverpool fans would have been used to seeing Manchester United in front of them by 14 points chasing for the title - and this would have been norm in the 1970s or 1980s.

There is no doubt now that Liverpool are chasing for the title now but can they win the Premier League title?

Liverpool crushing Arsenal at home a few weeks ago - Chelsea, City beware...
What is on their side is their fixture list with Liverpool hosting Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea, and their away trips to clubs in the bottom half of the table and fighting for survival, i.e. Cardiff, Norwich, West Ham and Crystal Palace.

On the flip side, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea will be tough at home and Cardiff, Norwich, West Ham and Crystal Palace will be hard to break down - they will accept a draw if it means a precious point for survival.

On the other hand, Liverpool are only fighting on one front and so can focus their squad size, resources and form on the Premier League title - a good thing as their squad depth isn't quite as good as Chelsea or Manchester City's - while Arsenal is fighting for a FA Cup as well, keen to end their long trophy drought with at least one trophy and Chelsea are still in contention in the Champions League.

Manchester City may not have Champions League football to contend with but do have a tough fixture list - and have to make up 3 games, never the easiest task at times.

One thing's not in doubt is Liverpool's aggressive attacking play which really has unsettled the best of teams, including Arsenal and definitely ran Manchester United ragged. At home, it has turned Anfield into a fortress and frightened visitors, even if the defence can be suspect at times.



The other thing in Liverpool's favour - form. They have key players in form at the right time of the season - Suarez has definitely been in fine form all season while Sturridge, Gerrard, Henderson and Sterling are all finding form as well, meaning this is one boat that is sailing with the wind behind its back. Even Brendan Rodgers is in fine form as a manager - a technical maestro whose tactics were perfect on Sunday afternoon.

Liverpool fans can start daring to believe and even if the season doesn't quite deliver a title, there is a lot that fans of the 5 times European champions can look forward to in the near future.






1 comment:

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