Liverpool injuries and Quadruple chase could still cock up their title race

Liverpool are the odds-on favourites to win the Premier League at the halfway stage after their brilliant campaign, but the title isn’t wrapped up just yet.

Having seen their four-game winning run in all competitions come to an end at the hands of  Manchester United at Anfield, the 2-2 draw with Ruben Amorim’s side was certainly a surprise given they had lost four consecutive games before Sunday’s result.

With half the league season already played, manager Arne Slot will be delighted with just one defeat but he knows there’s a lot of football left to be played. As it stands, they boast a six-point lead over Arsenal in second place but following the draw with United, questions have arisen which may place some seeds of doubt over their title aspirations. Most notably their defence, with Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold facing stiff criticism after the weekend’s result.

The Reds are also being tipped to go far in the Champions League and both domestic cups, which will require an incredible amount of energy and focus in an already hectic schedule that could pull attention away from their Premier League objectives.

With that in mind, we’re pondering what could disrupt Liverpool’s title charge in the second half of the season.

5) Other competitions

Having already topped the new Champions League format, they will qualify in the top eight and skip the first qualifying round, meaning they miss out on two extra tough games. Still, they are poised to retain their Carabao Cup as well as mount a challenge for the FA Cup, which begins with a home game against Accrington Stanley.

While their squad is well balanced, the period between January and March is unrelenting and full of high-stakes games which could disrupt their title charge.

4) Contract situations

Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold may well be the team’s most important players and all could leave for nothing within the next six months. You might have heard. As it stands, all three can sign pre-contracts elsewhere and we’ve already had a public admission from Salah that he isn’t close to renewing.

Real Madrid seem hellbent on securing Alexander-Arnold, which may be affecting his concentration – or at least that was the consensus after he produced a really poor display against United. The longer the saga drags on, the worse it could get. Especially if results or their performances begin to suffer due to the ongoing questions.

There’s already been a small patch of games where Liverpool were missing numerous key players but they managed to come through a tough period with flying colours. Diogo Jota, Joe Gomez, Ibrahim Konate, Alisson Becker and Federico Chiesa have form for picking up niggling injuries and if they are set to be successful across multiple competitions, then they will need as much depth as possible to manage the months ahead.

The January window is unlikely to be utilised with reports being few and far between concerning any mid-season moves, despite calls from the likes of Jamie Carragher that they ‘need to sign’ a full-back in the next few weeks.

2) Rivals’ form

Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea are the chasing pack – alongside Manchester City – and all of those clubs (barring perhaps Forest) will know they can produce more consistent form to reignite their title aspirations. Liverpool are likely to experience a drop-off of some sort and they will need to be ready to take advantage when that happens.

There is still a lot of football left to be played and many, many factors regarding multiple competitions, injuries, potential transfers and player unrest – and any combination of those could influence Liverpool’s title hopes.

1) Liverpool’s run-in

The Reds face a tricky run-in that includes one last historic final game at Goodison Park as well as away trips to face Bournemouth, Forest, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham and Brighton as well as facing Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United at Anfield.

Combine those with any of the other factors including multiple games in a week, injuries or media pressure and it could spell disaster for their title charge – or they could blow us all away with an incredible run.