‘I think the Premier League title race will be finished if Liverpool can take six points this week’
It feels like an age has passed since Liverpool was last in Premier League action, with the eight days since the Manchester United draw dominated by talk of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance level, a possible move for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and a double header of cup games.
But after the brief pause, the focus this week returns to Liverpool’s priority: winning another top-flight title. As Jamie Carragher has repeatedly stressed, nothing can distract the Reds from the ultimate goal of drawing level with United on 20 league triumphs.
Ruben Amorim’s side did their best to pause some of Liverpool’s momentum with a 2-2 draw in the last league game, while Tottenham Hotspur’s Carabao Cup victory inflicted a two-game match winless run on Arne Slot, remarkably the longest of his tenure so far at Anfield.
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The FA Cup win against Accrington Stanley did restore some of the feelgood factor once again, but as Slot remarked after the game: “We have to take into consideration that we're talking about League Two level.”
Dropped points in Liverpool’s next Premier League match might raise some uncomfortable questions, even if it comes against one of the team’s closest competitors. Nottingham Forest’s first half of the campaign was remarkable, and just as suggestions began that its season was about to taper away after defeat at the hands of Manchester City on 4 December, Forest responded with five consecutive league victories.
In truth, few really see the former European champions in the running this time around, even if there are real Leicester City 2016 vibes to this excellent East Midlands outfit. Beat Liverpool and that will change - Forest is one of two sides who are six points behind the league leaders. Nuno Espirito Santo is the only manager to inflict a Premier League defeat on Slot and it would be foolish to disregard the possibility of a repeat on Tuesday night.
In contrast, an away win at the City Ground, and suddenly Forest’s gap feels like 12 points given the game in hand. It is a crucial game in the title race.
As is the following match. A trip to Brentford, the league’s great entertainers, on Saturday, offers a hugely different challenge to the defensively robust Forest. The Bees have saved their best form for the G-tech this season and have won nine of its 13 home matches.
But Thomas Frank’s side has also lost the last three in front of its own fans, including against Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle at the weekend, so who knows what that match has in store. But it’s one that would-be champions should win.
As for the other main challenger, Arsenal, who is also six points behind Liverpool and suffered two further injuries in the FA Cup loss to Manchester United, can’t afford many more slip-ups. Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa aren’t the ideal opponents in that respect, and it would be a shock if the Gunners emerge with six points from those encounters.
Arsenal hasn’t lost in 10 league matches, but there’s something not quite right about Mikel Arteta’s side. Successive cup defeats haven’t helped, and Arsenal is increasingly looking like a side that is a little at odds with its own methods, a team somewhat questioning its own identity.
As for Forest, after Liverpool, it’s Southampton at home and what should be a guaranteed three points. This is the week when their title credentials could be nailed to the mast.
What about the outside runners? Both Chelsea and Newcastle United (10 and 11 points, respectively, off the pace) host Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the next week. Anything other than six points and their minuscule chances disappear altogether.
It’s why the next two rounds of Premier League fixtures feel important in the title race. Slot might not admit it, Liverpool fans might not want to acknowledge it, but wins against Forest and Brentford and suddenly any faint hopes of a battle for top spot could be over.
It also comes at an ideal time of the season, when Slot has rotated his squad in the last two cup games and just one player (Joe Gomez) is currently unavailable. It’s a major advantage.
Could this be the week that all but wraps up the Premier League title? Maybe not, but it certainly feels like a significant seven-day period in deciding how the title race will shape up as the final furlongs begin to creep into sight.
