With each week that goes by, Liverpool move ever closer to a first league title for 30 years. Having extended their advantage to 22 points with 13 games remaining, the finishing line is now well and truly in sight.
A 4-0 win over Southampton on Saturday, combined with Manchester City’s defeat to Tottenham yesterday, gave Liverpool the biggest lead in English top-flight history. They remain unbeaten, having failed to win just once in the league all season.
This unprecedented level of dominance means that it’s just a matter of time until the Reds claim their 19th title, and first of the Premier League era.
Although Southampton held firm throughout the first half at Anfield, Liverpool’s quality eventually told after the break. Goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson and a Mohamed Salah brace made for another well-deserved three points.
Six wins from now until the end of the season will be enough for Liverpool to win the title, whatever happens elsewhere. Depending on other results, the earliest they can be confirmed as champions is against Bournemouth on 7 March.
As long as Liverpool win their next six games, even if Man City do the same, Henderson and his teammates will be lifting the Premier League trophy aloft at Anfield on 21 March having defeated Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace.
Perhaps the ideal outcome for Liverpool fans would be to win the title at Goodison Park against their bitter rivals Everton five days before that. To do so, Liverpool need to keep winning and hope that Man City lose just one of their next four games.
Any of these outcomes would set a new record for the earliest Premier League title win, which currently belongs to Manchester United’s 2000-01 side, who had established an unassailable lead by 14 April, with five games remaining.
Liverpool finished that season in third place with 69 points, a total they had already surpassed by beating West Ham United last Wednesday.
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