Is it Liverpool's title to lose?

There may have been some other teams challenging early on in the campaign but they have soon dropped away, leaving Manchester City and Arsenal to fight it out for the ultimate prize in English football. City have always seemed to come out on top in recent times.

But at the start of November, football fans witnessed something truly unprecedented. Pep Guardiola lost four games in a row as a manager for the first time ever. Manchester City is still the favorites to win the championship on many fan’s soccer bet app. But there is another club that is blazing ahead in the EPL.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are having troubles of their own and while both those powerhouses will surely have a say in the outcome of this season’s English Premier League, it is Liverpool who has been forging ahead. There was a five-point gap at the top of the table by the time of the final international break of the year and, although there is obviously still a long way to go, could it be argued that it is now Liverpool’s title to lose?

New Man in Charge

When Jürgen Klopp shocked the football world – and especially the red half of Liverpool – by announcing he was going to leave Anfield last summer, there was concern that the club might have to take some time under a new manager to find its feet. Klopp had implanted an entirely new culture at Liverpool and it was unknown whether the new boss would be able to pick up where he left off.

If anything, Arne Slot has immediately imposed his own way of doing things – and in a more successful manner. Even though he had won league and cup titles with Feyenoord in his home country, it was always going to be a huge step up to take over at Liverpool. However, the players seem to be fully behind Slot and now play in a way that has taken all the positives of Klopp’s tactics and added new strategies for the better.

Electrifying Start

It may still be very early on in the season but there are some very good arguments to be made for Liverpool being the favorites to win a first league title since 2020. There has been only one time in the last 34 years that Liverpool has won more points after 11 games than it has this season. Unsurprisingly, that was when it won the league four years ago.

But there have also only ever been six teams in the Premier League era that have enjoyed a five-point lead after 11 games. This Liverpool side is one – and the other five have all gone on to win the league. The fans might get carried away with the excitement of it all but it is the statistics that are backing up claims for Liverpool to be the champion-elect.

Strong Defense

Much has been made of the enthralling attacking play of Liverpool (and we will be looking at that aspect in a moment) but it is the defense that has really helped Arne Slot’s side rise to the top of the league. Taking that international break and the 11-game barrier as a cut-off point, Liverpool had only conceded a paltry six goals and lost just once.

It wasn’t until the fourth game of the season that Liverpool allowed any team to score at all, with Nottingham Forest also upsetting the odds by taking all three points at Anfield. Virgil van Dyck has been as solid as ever, with Trent Alexander-Arnold adding his own particular brand of attack-minded defense to the equation. More impressive than perhaps both of them though has been Ibrahima Konaté. The France international is rarely beaten and is a huge part of Liverpool’s current success.

Attacking Options

Liverpool has been able to rely on its impenetrable defense all season but there are plenty of attacking options available to Slot as well. The Dutch coach will be very pleased that the goals have been shared around the squad so far, with eight different players chipping in to score 21 Premier League goals by the time of the international break.

Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, and Darwin Nuñez all have the ability to find the net and might even be the main attacking option at most other clubs. Liverpool obviously have another very special goal-getter to count on but opposing teams cannot concentrate their attentions on just one or two players in this Liverpool squad – and that will always be beneficial to the Anfield club.

Salah Back to His Best

It seems incredible to think that there were some people who thought that Mo Salah’s time in the English Premier League could be drawing to a close. The departure of Jürgen Klopp might have proved the perfect time for the Egyptian maestro to try his luck in the financially attractive Saudi Pro League. But Salah stayed – and Liverpool has prospered.

Salah already has three Premier League Golden Boot awards in his personal trophy cabinet but he could be on course for another this season. There had been some criticism last year but that should only really be taken with the caveat of the very high standards Salah has set since joining Liverpool. He might achieve the best goal tally since that first year at Anfield when he scored an incredible 44 in all competitions. Salah is back to his best and he might just be leading his team to another league title.