Rivals keep leaving the door open for Liverpool in top-4 race; it’s time for the Reds to shut it
Liverpool currently occupy the fourth and final Champions League qualification berth in the Premier League table, but there’s a lengthy queue of teams in close pursuit of the Reds.
At the start of the season, few would’ve expected the champions’ priority for the second half of the campaign to be a mere top-four finish, rather than a sustained push at retaining their top-flight title, but the latter aim has realistically faded well into the distance (despite some pundits claiming otherwise).
It’s been a difficult few months for Arne Slot’s side, but an 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions has seen a gradual resurgence back towards the upper end of the table – for the latest odds on the Premier League title race and the race for the top four, check out Bally Bet.
The Premier League resumes this weekend after a brief pause for the FA Cup third round, so let’s remind ourselves of the state of play in the division.
Where do Liverpool currently sit in the Premier League table?
Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa are clear in the top three, while West Ham and Burnley are in danger of being cut adrift along with Wolves in the relegation zone, but the race for fourth place covers more than half of the table.
Liverpool currently hold that all-important Champions League berth on 35 points, but Brentford (33), Newcastle (32), Manchester United (32), Chelsea (31) and Fulham (31) are all in close pursuit. Even 14th-placed Tottenham Hotspur are only eight points off breaking into the top four.
However, the frustration for the Reds is that they should be much further clear of the chasing pack. Had they not conceded stoppage-time equalisers away to Leeds and Fulham in recent weeks and won at home to Daniel Farke’s side, they’d now be eight points clear of fifth place and still just about in the title race.
Liverpool failing to take advantage of rivals’ slip-ups
It isn’t just the champions who are throwing away silly points, either. Man United and Chelsea have both won just one of their last six league games, and even when they were slipping up over the festive period, Liverpool missed their opportunity to take full advantage.
Our next three top-flight fixtures against Burnley (home), Bournemouth (away) and Newcastle (home) are three we would fully expect to win, with all due respect to that trio of opposition. It gets tougher in February with Man City at Anfield and Sunderland away in the space of four days.
The inconsistency of the chasing pack has enabled Slot’s side to break back into the top four, but the Reds keep leaving the door open for the teams behind them to gatecrash the Champions League places. It’s time for LFC to shut that door and deliver a succession of victories to help stave off the humiliation of missing out on Europe’s premier club competition altogether.
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