One of the Premier League’s most distinguished goalscorers has stated his belief that Liverpool could go on to lift the title this season.
Les Ferdinand – who’s tied with Mo Salah in 11th place in the division’s all-time scoring list with 149 goals (premierleague.com) – was speaking on punditry duty for Amazon Prime Sport when he gave his verdict on the contenders to Manchester City’s crown.
The Reds’ 2-0 win over Sheffield United in midweek has given them the opportunity to go top of the table for a few hours at least if they can beat Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime, a position they’d hold if leaders Arsenal duly fail to defeat third-placed Aston Villa in the evening kick-off.
The former Newcastle and QPR striker declared: “The team I like at the moment is Liverpool. Nobody is talking too much about them. Everyone was saying about next year and building a team for it, but they are coming up on the rails, getting result after result, scoring goals, winning games.
“They are where they want to be but nobody is talking about them at the moment and I think they will like that.”
Many neutral observers still seem to regard Liverpool as third-favourites for the Premier League title behind Man City and Arsenal, and as Ferdinand says, Jurgen Klopp might privately be quite happy for that to remain the case.
A run of just three points in four games for Pep Guardiola’s side has offered genuine hope to other contenders of dethroning them by the end of the campaign, even if the defending champions typically hit the turbo from January onwards.
The Reds are one of just two top-flight teams (along with Villa) to boast a 100% home record so far this term, with results at Fortress Anfield giving them a real chance of staying in the hunt for most of the campaign, or possibly even getting to the finishing line.
However, Liverpool do need to improve their away form, with Wednesday’s victory at Bramall Lane their first league win on their travels since mid-September and only their third out of the eight matches they’ve had on the road.
If Klopp’s side can remedy that while simultaneously remaining formidable at home, it’s not unthinkable that they could be in the title race for the long haul this time around – music to the ears of Kopites!