Liverpool are chasing their first Premier League title in four seasons (Picture: Getty)
Jamie Carragher believes that this season’s tight and hotly contested Premier League could mean the winning points total is less than in previous years.
Carragher’s former side Liverpool currently sit a point clear at the top of the table having gone nine games unbeaten in the league.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, though, have not looked the complete outfit so far this season, squeaking past Crystal Palace and Fulham in recent weeks and drawing with Luton earlier last month.
Arsenal trail Jurgen Klopp’s side by just one point having lost to Aston Villa last week.
Reigning champions Manchester City, meanwhile, are three further points behind after a disappointing spell which has left them with just one win from their last five league games.
And with those rivals dropping points around Liverpool, Carragher believes his former side won’t need as many points if they are to win their first title since 2020.
‘This could be one of those seasons in which a side wins the league with a points total in the mid-80s,’ he said writing in the Telegraph.
Manchester City trail by four points in fourth place. (Picture: Getty)
‘In all but three of the last 10 seasons, the tally of the leaders after 16 games was higher than Liverpool’s going into this weekend.’
In four of the last six seasons, the winning side has accrued more than 90 points. Pep Guardiola’s side racked up 89 points last year, with the lowest title in the last six seasons the 86 which saw City claim the title in the 2020/21 season.
Liverpool face tough games against Manchester United and Arsenal in the next fortnight, but with City soon departing for the Club World Cup, Carragher believes this period represents a golden opportunity.
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‘Nobody will write City off yet. To me, they remain the favourites,’ he added.
‘But their sluggish start by their standards has given the others a chance, and their participation in the Club World Cup presents a golden opportunity for their rivals to open up a considerable gap and generate some scoreboard pressure.
‘Even with games in hand, if City return from Saudi Arabia and find themselves 10 points behind, they will be thinking they cannot afford many more mistakes.’
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