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We are rapidly approaching the home stretch of the 2018/19 Premier League season and we already have a clearer picture of how the table is going to shape up to be.
At the bottom of the table, there are clear relegation candidates, while the battle for the UEFA Champions League spots remains fiercely heated following Manchester United’s revival since the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
It is, however, at the top of the table where the most focus is, as Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham engage in a three-way race to be crowned league champions.
Liverpool have all the chips in their favour at the moment, as they currently hold a three-point advantage over City in second place, although the Cityzens could temporarily go top of the standings if they achieve victory over Everton in their rescheduled midweek clash.
Having had two opportunities to further widen the gap and move seven points clear of Pep’s men, Liverpool threw their chances away, drawing consecutive matches to ensure that it remains anybody’s title with 13 matches to go.
The Reds are without domestic glory since 1990 and the desire to deliver a first ever Premier League title to the Anfield faithful is topmost on every Liverpool player’s mind. However, for all of their brilliance at the start of the season, Liverpool have begun to wobble in recent weeks, leading many to suggest that they could choke.
In this piece, we shall be taking a look at four reasons which could see Liverpool falter in their quest to be league champions.
#4 They have recent history against them
Nobody can ever forget the mother of all chokes which happened to Liverpool in the 2013/2014 Premier League season.
With a forward line led by the unplayable Luis Suarez ably supported by Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling, Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers captured the imagination, scoring goals for fun and were fans and neutrals alike pick to be crowned league champions.
Their claim was further boosted when they defeated their closest challengers Manchester City to move three points clear with five matches to go, but the unthinkable happened as they lost a home game to Chelsea before throwing away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Crystal Palace.
The rest, as they say, is history, as a season which started with so much promise in 2014 ended in agony and disappointment and their performance in the later periods of that season is one which would play heavily on the minds of Liverpool’s players and fans, as they would be keen to avoid a repeat scenario.
#3 Injury concerns
In the 1-1 draw with West Ham, Liverpool were without the services of no less than four first-team players, as Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gini Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson were all sidelined through one injury problem or the other.
While injuries are and will always be a sad reality of the professional game, having so many players of the first team injured at the same time is bound to take a toll on any team regardless of the situation they find themselves in.
The sheer number and importance of matches left for Liverpool to navigate means that Jurgen Klopp needs to call on the services of all his players, but the current injury crisis at the club means that is not possible.
Liverpool’s injury problems mean that Liverpool will always be short of playing personnel in the long run of the Premier League season and ultimately, this could massively affect their chances negatively in their quest to be crowned league champions.
#2 Manchester City has more experience
It is a well-established fact that experience wins titles in football matches, as the composure required to last the distance in such nervous situations can only be achieved by being in multiple instances of such nature.
It is here that Liverpool find themselves massively handicapped to Manchester City, as all members of the current City squad were a part of the procession to the title last season, while the only addition Riyad Mahrez also tasted Premier League success with Leicester City in 2016.
By contrast, the only Liverpool player who has a feel of what it is like to be an EPL champion is veteran James Milner (who ironically won it with Manchester City), while only a handful of Reds know what it is to win a trophy of any kind whatsoever.
Even in the coaching department, Klopp falls some way short of Pep Guardiola, as the 48-year-old Catalan has only had one trophyless season in a decade of management, winning almost everything there is to win at club level in three different countries.
Klopp, on the other hand, is without a major trophy since his Bundesliga triumph with Dortmund in 2012, while he has also infamously lost the last seven finals he has contested consecutively (one of which was against Manchester City).
The superior experience Manchester City have over Liverpool and relative inexperience in The Reds camp could come to play in deciding the destination of this season’s Premier League title.
#1 The weight of expectation could prove too much for them
As has been well established, Liverpool are without league glory in 29 years. To put that in context, a child born the last time Liverpool won the league could well have started a new family by now, while only about five players in the current Liverpool team had been born the time Kenny Dalglish led the Merseysiders to league glory.
There is drive almost bordering on desperation to give Anfield fans their greatest heart desire, as every member of the current squad knows what it means for them to be the set of players to finally give Liverpool their long-awaited Premier League crown.
Pressure like this could work in two ways in individuals. It could either spur them on to achieve immortality or could see them choke under the weight of expectations and on evidence of what we are witnessing so far, the latter seems to be the case with Liverpool.
The Reds started the season in emphatic fashion, going unbeaten for the first 20 matches of the campaign in which they conceded just eight goals. However, since that loss to Manchester City, they have conceded seven goals in five matches, while also losing the composure and fluidity that made them such a delight to watch in the early part of the campaign.
History has shown us that most great teams always buckle under the weight of expectations (just ask Luiz and co at the 2014 World Cup) and this increased pressure of being the historic ones to win a first EPL title for Liverpool could see Mohamed Salah and co buckle under the pressure.
