‘I heard Roy Keane become unlikely Liverpool ally as Premier League title myth exposed’

Liverpool might have lost against Fulham over the weekend but Arne Slot’s side is still set to cruise towards the Premier League title. It needs a maximum of another 11 points to confirm itself as champion.

As ever, though, the narrative is still being shaped. Is Liverpool set to be a “bad” league title winner? Does such a thing even exist? It doesn’t take much of a blip — one Premier League defeat — for the questions to get louder.

The reality is that Liverpool fans won’t care if the perception is that the league was weaker this season as they delight in the celebrations. Even if it was true, it wouldn’t dampen the trophy parade when the time comes.

It is not accurate, however, to say that Liverpool will be undeserving of the crown. Liverpool is on track to finish on 89 points at its current rate and the Reds could still end this season on as many as 94 points. Only five teams have ever got more than that — two of which are Liverpool (in 2018/19, when it came second, and 2019/20, when it ended its three-decade drought).

While no two Premier League seasons have exactly the same level of teams competing in them and are therefore never entirely equal, the argument that the quality has dropped this year doesn’t hold weight either. There are more teams vying for the European spots than ever before, and that Manchester United and Spurs are 13th and 14th respectively says plenty about how many teams are better.

Even West Ham United, with the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus, sits in 16th place. The bottom three sides have been poor but 17th-placed Wolves have one of the elite players in the division in Matheus Cunha. There are, as the cliche goes, no easy games. And Fulham proved that at Craven Cottage.