The past seven days have undoubtedly constituted the worst week of the season so far for Liverpool, who’ve now lost consecutive matches under Arne Slot for the first time.
Last Monday, the Reds still had ambitions of ending the campaign with three trophies to celebrate. Now, all of their eggs are in the Premier League basket after their elimination from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and the galling Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle.
However, there’s still a strong likelihood that Virgil van Dijk has silverware to lift in the next couple of months, with LFC 12 points clear at the summit of the top flight with nine matches left to play.
Thierry Henry still backing Liverpool for the title
Arsenal remain the closest team to Liverpool in the Premier League table, and Thierry Henry was asked on CBS Sports after the Carabao Cup final if he thinks his former club could yet usurp the Reds in first place.
The former France striker doesn’t see that happening, replying (via Yahoo! Sports): “No, that’s just how it is when you’ve won more games. There’s 38 games, that’s how it is, you have to give them the credit to go 12 points ahead. Let’s see what happens, but I don’t see it happening except if Liverpool implodes.”
Liverpool have room for error, but please don’t let it become nervy!
March has been the trickiest month of the season so far for Liverpool – even before the last two matches, they unconvincingly beat PSG and Southampton – but despite the recent wobble, the Reds are far better than Richard Keys’ ridiculous classification of them as an ‘average‘ team.
Les Ferdinand also came out with a laughable remark that Slot’s side are now ‘only on for the Premier League’. Try finding a single LFC supporter who, back in August, wouldn’t have shaken on their team having a 12-point lead at the top of the table going into April.
Unlike the former Newcastle striker, Henry actually won this division (twice) during his playing career, and he’s right in saying that the Merseysiders simply need to keep their heads and they should have enough of a buffer to get them over the line.
As it stands, Liverpool can afford to lose four of their next nine games and still win the league, so long as there isn’t a goal difference swing of more than 13.
That said, if the Reds were to drop points against Everton and Fulham (who coincidentally are also Arsenal’s next two opponents in reverse order) and the Gunners defeat both of those sides to potentially narrow the gap to six, questions would definitely be asked as to whether LFC have the composure to see out the title race.
Even with plenty of margin for error, let’s hope that Slot’s men can get back to winning ways in the Merseyside derby and not give the north Londoners even a sniff of a most improbable comeback during the run-in.
