Six underrated reasons why Liverpool can run away with the Premier League title race

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].”

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    The 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 starter – another thing nobody would have expected before the season began.

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      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.
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      Injury 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.

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      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.

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        Faltering rivals

        There are several arguments to be made against Liverpool going on to win the league. As already mentioned, injuries can cripple any side, but it’s also been claimed that the Reds are in a false position because of an allegedly soft set of fixtures, meaning they’ll eventually be reeled in by the two sides that finished above them last season – Manchester City and Arsenal. However, that was already meant to have happened by now.

        Even Slot admitted that Liverpool’s early-season schedule didn’t pit them against any real heavyweights – other than Manchester United, of course, but they were in complete turmoil under Erik ten Hag at the time, rendering the usually daunting trip to Old Trafford very pleasant.

        The manager said all along that it would be better to judge Liverpool before the November break – well, here we are, and Slot’s side have actually managed to increase their lead by defeating Chelsea, Brighton and Aston Villa at home, and drawn away to Arsenal (while at the same time storming to the top of the Champions League and progressing to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup!). Liverpool are clearing nearly every hurdle placed in their path, while their two main title rivals are stumbling from one poor result to another, picking up more and more injuries as they go.

        The belief is that both Arsenal and City will quickly come good, but both appear more vulnerable than they’ve been for an awfully long time. Arsenal may have just recovered Odegaard, but the pressure on manager Mikel Arteta is mounting, given he’s spent a colossal amount of money on his squad – and still doesn’t have a reliable goal-scorer.

        As for City, they’ve now lost four games in a row in all competitions under Pep Guardiola for the first time and, as has been proven in the past, are just not the same side without their injured Ballon d’Or winner Rodri. The state-sponsored champions will likely buy a replacement in January (perhaps Liverpool’s summer target Martin Zubimendi) and they are the comeback kings, a team of proven winners that nearly always gets better and better the longer the season goes on.

        But who’s to say Slot’s Liverpool won’t too?

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        More to come

        Liverpool have some seriously tough games coming up. They have to play Newcastle, Everton and Tottenham away from home this side of Christmas, while they host Real Madrid three days before the crucial visit of City.

        However, it’s worth remembering that by winning their first four Champions League fixtures, they’ve almost-certainly guaranteed themselves a spot in the knockout stage. The target remains a top-eight finish, so as to avoid the play-off round and go straight into the last 16, meaning two fewer games in the spring, but they’re already in a position to rest and rotate players as we approach the harsh – and often decisive – winter months.

        As Premier League and Champions League leaders, Liverpool couldn’t really be much better placed right now. There is a margin for error, however small. They can actually afford to drop points, whereas their rivals really cannot.

        Even more significantly, this is just the start of Slot’s reign. He’s only been working with this group of players since July – and even then, not all of them at the same time.

        The bottom line is that there is still room for improvement. Liverpool obviously aren’t going to continue winning nearly every single game they play, but they could actually get better. And if they do, they won’t just win the league, they’ll run away with it.