Liverpool have again built a healthy lead at the top of the Premier League table. The win over Leicester City allowed them to build a lead of seven points at the summit of the standings while playing a game less than their rivals. They are odds-on favourites to win the league at the end of the season despite Arne Slot trying to downplay the kind of advantage the Reds have at this stage of the campaign.
The Merseyside giants look like the team to beat in the Premier League and currently are on course to win the league in Slot’s first season in charge of the club.
Liverpool look defensively solid and are finding ways to score in every game even when the team are down to ten men like they were against Fulham at Anfield a couple of weeks back.
Manchester City have collapsed dramatically this season, Arsenal are struggling for consistency and Chelsea are still a young team as was evident in their 2-1 defeat at home against Fulham on Boxing Day.
Liverpool seem to have a clear run at the Premier League title in a season where some big teams are in transition and are struggling to put together a run of results to compete with the Merseyside giants.
However, as Slot has mentioned his team can’t afford to relax and they are set to face West Ham and Manchester United in their next two games ahead of the FA Cup weekend.
The two games look easy on paper but it seems likely Liverpool could come under pressure in both games despite how the two teams are performing at the moment.
West Ham can trouble Liverpool
Liverpool will go into both games as massive favourites to win and they should be walking away with all six points against the Hammers and the Red Devils.
West Ham are 13th in the league table and will start the game against Liverpool as the underdogs. However, the East London club have picked up some form in recent weeks.
Following the disastrous defeat at Leicester City a few weeks ago, West Ham are unbeaten in four in the league and have looked a bit more solid in the games.
The Hammers will look to restrict Liverpool and hope to hit them on the counter but they will still need loads of luck to get a result at home against a rampaging Reds side.
With the quick turnover between the games during the festive period, Slot is likely to rotate his squad but they should be strong enough to get a win and walk away with three points from the Hammers.
However, the gruelling schedule often seen a drop in the level of performances and West Ham would hope to catch the Merseyside giants on a bad day at the London Stadium on Sunday.
And now what about Manchester United?
Manchester United are in a terrible run but Liverpool could inspire them to a performance
Ruben Amorim has struggled to get the team going since taking charge of the club in November. There have been some good results but the enormity of the task at hand is bogging the new Red Devils manager down.
Manchester United have lost four of their last five Premier League games but the only win during that run was against Manchester City at the Etihad.
While Manchester City have collapsed, they are still a good team and Manchester United players did produce a solid performance to beat their local rivals.
Manchester United’s recent trips to Anfield have been traumatic, including a 7-0 hammering but it could also inspire the players to produce a big performance.
Liverpool should be beating this Manchester United side but these are the kind of games where the formbook often goes out of the window.
The Merseyside giants must guard against complacency and Slot must ensure that his players are ready to face a better Manchester United side at Anfield on 5th January than what their form suggests.
