Southampton Officially Out Of Premier League Title Race
01/26/2025 04:47 AM
One down, 18 more teams to go for Liverpool.
Yesterday was a sad day for Southampton. Well, one of many sad days for Southampton in the Premier League this season. The 20th-placed side cannot catch Liverpool, even if the Saints win out and the Reds were Thanos-snapped out of existence.
Southampton would have 51 points if they won out, which would still fall short of Liverpool's current haul of 53 points.
Now, with 15 or 16 matches to go, this takes some doing from Southampton. The Saints sit on just 6 points, and appear poised to challenge the 2007/08 Derby County side, who finished on just 11 points and with a -69 goal differential, for the title of worst Premier League team ever. A dubious distinction indeed.
Regardless of how much Southampton are committed to The Bit, Liverpool keep producing performances befitting of future champions, and are currently the only side coming close to being on track for a 90+ point season. Arsenal, by comparison, won't break 80 points at their current rate.
Jokes aside, Liverpool eliminating Southampton is a milestone, and hopefully the first of 18 such eliminations. It is also key that Liverpool are the ones doing the eliminating. The Saints could still catch Arsenal, for example (they obviously will not, but it is still mathematically possible).
Liverpool could conceivably eliminate 2-3 more teams in the next 2-3 matches, provided the results go the right way. Ipswich and Wolves can each earn a maximum of 61 points, and Leicester can currently earn a maximum of 62 points. That could go down to 59 or 60 points, if they fail to be beat Spurs (and it is Spurs, so literally any result is possible).
Mathematical curiosities aside, the most important thing for Liverpool is to just keep winning.
Liverpool need 37 points to crack 90 points, or 11 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses. Arsenal need 43 points with one fewer match to play, meaning they need 14 wins and a draw.
Before yesterday, they needed 12 wins. Now it's 11. One team eliminated. One fewer week for challengers to gain ground on Liverpool. Just keep winning, and the rest will follow.
