Liverpool need to LOCK IN or risk fumbling Premier League title

So far this season, Liverpool under Arne Slot have been magnificent.

The team leads the way in the UEFA Champions League 'league-phase' and the Reds are four points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand on second-place Arsenal.

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From the devastating outlook fans had at the end of last season when it was announced that Jurgen Klopp would be leaving, to the extraordinary performances from Liverpool that have made the club title-favourites for several months now. The transition has been insane.

However, while the Reds are sitting pretty on 47 points from 20 league games, having only dropped points six times, the team is in a slight rut, having drawn four of their last seven Premier League outings, meaning that the pressure is on.

And according to Peter Leonard, Liverpool will need to lock in if they are to get this title sealed.

Liverpool must improve on last season's efforts

Regardless of Peter's affiliations to Arsenal as a fan, his model currently predicts that the Gunners could pip Liverpool to the title by one point if the Reds' efforts in their remaining fixtures lead to the same results against the same opposition as last season.

So let's break it down.

Liverpool have 18 Premier League games remaining. The split between away and home games is 50-50. However, the away games include trips to direct rivals Everton and Manchester City, alongside high-flyers Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Fulham, Chelsea and Brighton.

In addition, the home games are no less daunting, with Newcastle, Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal all set to visit Anfield before the season is finished.

When Liverpool reached the 20-game mark last season, the team had dropped points in seven games. They went on to drop points in seven further games in the remaining 18 fixtures. It left them on 82 points having drawn 10 games and lost four.

This season Liverpool have reached the 20-game mark having dropped points in six games. However, if they are to surpass their expected total of 83 points (per Peter's model), then they will need to overturn some of the seven games in which they underperformed last season.

Those include losing 2-0 against Everton (A), drawing 1-1 with Manchester City (A), drawing 3-3 with Aston Villa (A), drawing 1-1 with Chelsea (A), drawing 1-1 with Arsenal (H), drawing 2-2 with Brighton (A) and losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace at Anfield.

How things are different to last season

Now, of course, Liverpool are a different team under Arne Slot, albeit with largely the same personnel after an underwhelming summer transfer window, so the team has dropped points to different sides this time around.

Likewise, Arsenal are a different team this time around, having signed Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino, while Gabriel Jesus didn't have an ACL injury last season and Bukayo Saka wasn't sidelined for three months of the campaign either.

So it is wrong to suggest that Liverpool winning the Premier League can be an absolute science. Manchester City for example, are nowhere to be seen regarding the title race this season. There are variables to take account of.

But the cold truth is that Liverpool will need to equip themselves better in this year's run-in if they want to secure a 20th league title in May and, with a Champions League campaign continuing, rather than a Europe League charge like last season, the team is under pressure and getting across the line is going to be tough.

The team is capable of returning to the level it was at in the first half of the season and Arne Slot knows what he's doing, his Feyenoord side regularly challenged for the Eredivisie title, but by no means is anything wrapped up quite yet, regardless of what an Opta supercomputer might suggest.

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