Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

The formula Premier League teams must adopt vs Liverpool to preserve Arsenal Invincibles record

Liverpool are closing in on the Premier League title.

18 points clear of reigning champions Manchester City at the top of the table, that lead will be extended to a massive 21 points tonight if they overcome a struggling West Ham United side at Anfield.

In truth there's only two remaining factors of the Reds' inevitable first title win in three decades.

Premier League top scorer: Who leads the race for the golden boot?

One being how soon they wrap up the title. Man City have 11 games remaining which means the highest points total they can manage in 90, therefore Liverpool can be crowned champions of England if they win their next five Premier League games.

This sequence would leave the Merseyside giants within one game of matching an record which Arsenal have held since October 2004.

Over a decade ago, the Gunners went 49 straight games unbeaten in the top flight of English football.

Liverpool's record currently stands at 43 and with their next five league games coming against the Hammers, Watford, Everton and Crystal Palace, it would be a surprise if they don't go into the clash against City on April 5 not looking to equal the Gunners' record.

Simply put, Jurgen Klopp's side don't lose football matches. Well, they don't lose football matches in the Premier League.

It's very much a different story in Europe. Last Tuesday's 1-0 loss against Atletico Madrid was the second time the Reds have been beaten in the Champions League this season.

The La Liga outfit are known for being a difficult team to break down - as Arsenal can relate to - under Diego Simeone and Liverpool didn't have the solution to Atletico's rigid 4-4-2 set-up.

This was also the case when Napoli - then managed by Everton's Carlo Ancelotti - beat them 2-0 at the Stadio San Paolo in the group phase earlier in the season.

What the 4-4-2 system does is when it works well is deny what makes Liverpool so dangerous - space. And on two occasions when Klopp has faced this kind of defensive set-up he's not found the answer to avoid defeat.

So it would appear that this is the formula to beat Liverpool and one which the Gunners will be hoping their Premier League rivals will adopt to ensure their 49-game unbeaten record remains intact.

Interestingly, the Reds come up against Ancelotti's Everton side at Goodison Park five days after the second leg against Atletico and that could very well be where the leaders come unstuck if the Italian adopts the same approach which has seen him taste success in head-to-head meetings with Klopp.

It's the system West Ham, Watford as well as Palace should adopt over the next month, otherwise it will be down to Pep Guardiola and Man City to preserve Arsenal's Invincibles record.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.