Liverpool's holiday wobble won't matter if their rivals can't punish it | Jonathan Wilson

01/06/2025 10:50 AM

Liverpool may have got away with one in Sunday's thrilling draw with Manchester United. But without a sustained challenge from those in chase, it may not matter

Title races are never just about the winners. In other circumstances, a run of three draws in six games for Liverpool might be cause for concern. Are they tightening up? Is there validity to that vague sense that the fixture list so far has been kind to them? But even if there is, it doesn't really matter. Before the first of those draws, at Newcastle on 4 December, they were nine points clear of Arsenal in second; after Sunday's draw at home to Manchester United, they are six points clear of Arsenal with a game in hand.

And that really has been the story of the past month, the great hectic splurge of the festive period. There has been a lot of heat and light, a lot of drama and excitement, and in the end not much has changed. Liverpool were far from their best on Sunday, could easily have suffered a surprise defeat, but in seven of the last nine match days the chasing pack of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have managed one or fewer wins between them. That does, admittedly, leave Nottingham Forest, who will close to six points with a game in hand if they beat Wolves on Monday, and who are Liverpool's next league opponents, but it has been a remarkable achievement for Nuno Espírito Santo's side to get to where they are; realistically there is going to be some drop-off in the second half of the season.