The Reds are expected to eventually run out of steam, but they now have every chance of winning the title in Arne Slot's first season at Anfield
Liverpool beat Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League. Not even the players expected to be in such a promising position going into the November international break. "If you asked me before the season started, I would not have said that we were candidates [to win the title]," midfielder Alexis Mac Allister admitted, "but now it looks like [we are]."
According to , they're not just contenders; they're now favourites, having won nine of their 11 games so far – and 15 of 17 in all competitions. Only on five previous occasions has a team held such a commanding lead at this stage of the season – and all five went on to win the league, including Jurgen Klopp's runaway 2019-20 champions.
Will history repeat itself – again? The common consensus is that Liverpool will eventually fall away, just as they did last season while chasing a quadruple all the way into the spring, and a dip in form is inevitable at some point. Seasons are longer and harder than ever before. The gruelling schedule and intense competitiveness of the Premier League means Arne Slot's side are unlikely to maintain their current ridiculously high win-rate.
However, we've seen enough during the first few months of the campaign to suggest that Liverpool are eminently capable of claiming a 20th top-flight title – and not just because they have the best player in the world right now in Mohamed Salah. Below, GOAL gives six less obvious, more underrated reasons why the Reds could romp to victory…
AFPThe Slot effect
One of the more impressive elements of Liverpool's title charge is that the squad was barely strengthened during the summer. Usually, when a new manager takes over, he's given a significant sum of money to spend. Liverpool, though, only lined up a goalkeeper for next season (Giorgi Mamardashvili) before taking a small gamble on Federico Chiesa (that's yet to pay off!), meaning Slot was essentially left to work with the same set of players as last season.
But then, part of the reason why he was picked to succeed Klopp is that he had a similar footballing philosophy to the German. Far more importantly, Michael Edwards & Co. were impressed with the way in which Slot managed to compete with richer rivals in the Netherlands by making the most of the resources at his disposal. He's now doing likewise in England.
While the fantastic form of Salah and Virgil van Dijk is utterly unsurprising – these are world-class players with such a professional approach to the game that the would have stepped up to the mark for nearly any manager – Slot deserves immense credit for the incredible growth we're seeing in the likes of Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones.
Some managers would have sulked after seeing Liverpool once again fail to sign a specialist No.6 (Antonio Conte comes to mind!), but Slot simply set about tapping into Gravenberch's potential, while at the same time coaxing the very best out of Jones. The net result is that the pair have developed a wonderful understanding playing alongside one another in midfield and have become certain starters – another thing nobody would have expected before the season began.
AdvertisementGetty Greater depth without spending big
The progress made by both Gravenberch and Jones means the battle for midfield berths has only intensified, with the onus on Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to step up their games. But it's been a similar story across the board, with Liverpool looking better equipped to cope with absentees than their title rivals.
Much of the build-up to Liverpool's clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium centred on the hosts' injury and suspension problems. When the game kicked-off, though, the teams were missing just two regular starters apiece (William Saliba and Martin Odegaard for the hosts, and Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota for the visitors), making a mockery of the narrative that Liverpool have had – and benefited enormously from – a clean bill of health since the start of the season.
Slot has certainly been fortunate in that he was able to field a relatively settled side during the first few weeks of his reign – and much will ultimately hinge on irreplaceable players like Van Dijk and Salah staying fit – but what's become obvious is that Liverpool have enviable strength in depth.
We already knew that Caoimhin Kelleher was the best No.2 in world football and that Conor Bradley was the perfect understudy for Trent Alexander-Arnold, but we're now seeing Kostas Tsimikas putting more pressure on Andy Robertson than ever before, the midfield is so well-stocked that Wataru Endo, one of the revelations of last season, is barely getting a look-in, while Slot is in the remarkably privileged position of being able to choose between Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz for the left-wing berth. Of course, as we discovered in the stunning rout of Bayer Leverkusen, he can also just play both – and to devastating effect.
The bottom line is that Slot has managed to cultivate greater strength in depth not by signing players but by improving them – which is testament to the quality of his coaching and tactical acumen.
Getty Images SportInjury issues easing
The even more encouraging news for Liverpool fans is that Slot should have even more players available to him after the international break.
It was worrying to see Alexander-Arnold forced off against Villa, but it ultimately proved little more than a minor inconvenience, which was impressive in itself, and the hugely influential right-back is expected back before the end of the month anyway.
By that stage, Liverpool may also have Alisson, Jota, Chiesa and Harvey Elliott back in action. For all Kelleher's qualities, Alisson remains Liverpool's undisputed No.1 and his return will be a huge boost. The same goes for Jota, given he's a pressing monster and arguably the best finisher at the club.
A fully fit and firing Chiesa would add even more of an edge to Liverpool's attack, but the Italian winger won't be expected to make an immediate impact, given it's highly likely that his minutes will be carefully managed as the club's medical team look to get him back in the best possible shape.
Elliott, though, could have an important part to play. Liverpool's super-sub was one of the few players that stepped up during the tail end of the 2023-24 campaign and he looked set for a prominent role under Slot until injury intervened. Indeed, Elliott was arguably the star of pre-season and unquestionably has the creativity and energy to excel in the No.10 role within Slot's 4-2-3-1 formation that still seems very much up for grabs.
Getty Konate & the increase in clean sheets
Of course, if the tail end of last season taught us anything, it's that Liverpool don't just need to cope better with injuries, they also need to defend better. The Reds reclaimed top spot in the Premier League when they beat Sheffield United on April 4, but holes were already appearing at the back. They hadn't kept a clean sheet for more than a month, and they wouldn't register another until the final day of the season, by which point their title challenge had long since unravelled.
Granted, mental and physical exhaustion was a major factor in their collapse – even Salah looked a shadow of his usual self as an injury suffered on international duty eventually caught up with him. However, some of Liverpool's defending was amateurish at times. Van Dijk was his usual reliable self for the most part, but Joel Matip, who suffered a season-ending injury against Spurs, was sorely missed, because while Jarell Quansah showcased his undoubted potential, Ibrahima Konate's form fluctuated wildly and ultimately saw him spend the final four league games sitting on the bench.
This season, though, Konate looks like a completely different player. There has been the odd mistake here and there, but the Frenchman no longer looks like an accident waiting to happen. On the contrary, in some games, he's even outperformed Van Dijk, with whom he's formed a formidable centre-back pairing – one which has been key to Liverpool recording six shutouts already this season.
Slot has also played a massive part here, too, though, with the Dutchman's more prudent, patient and possession-heavy approach undoubtedly resulting in the Reds being less susceptible to counter-attacks within the kind of chaotic encounters that characterised Klopp's thrilling tenure.
