Former defender Gary Gillespie reckons a 14-game winning run is needed to seal Premier League championship.
Liverpool may have just won seven matches on the trot.
But they’ll have to win their NEXT seven as well to be Premier League Champions.
That’s how difficult it will be to end the club’s 24-year title drought, according to former defender Gary Gillespie.
The Scot sees every Liverpool game as pundit and co-commentator for the club’s TV channel, and has been hugely impressed by Brendan Rodgers’ team.
But he believes Manchester City and Chelsea are so strong that not only will Liverpool have to win both crunch head-to-heads at Anfield next month, they can’t afford to drop points anywhere else either.
“I don’t think anyone has ever needed 14 wins on the bounce to win the League,” says Gary. “But I suspect that’s what might have to happen.
“I think they will certainly have to beat City and Chelsea at home. But that wouldn’t be enough if Liverpool don’t take full points elsewhere because I don’t expect both the others to make mistakes.
“That’s the enormity of the task. But they are playing very well and are definitely in contention.”
That seven-match run-in starts against Tottenham today, and Gillespie believes that whatever happens in the title race, the club has finally emerged from the shadows.
“There’s a feelgood factor that I haven’t known for a long time,” he says. “It’s like we’ve come alive again.
“The team have been fantastic to watch this season and they can only get better.
“If Liverpool were to end up third this season, it would be disappointing, but it wouldn’t be as disappointing as it would be for City or Chelsea.
“It’s unprecedented for a team finishing seventh to win the Premier League a year later. So realistically Champions League qualification would have been the target for Liverpool.
“Much has been made of the fact that Liverpool have taken advantage of not having European football.
“The free weeks have given Brendan more time to improve individuals and get his ideas across.
“But other clubs have had that in the past, and the Premier League has never been won by a team that weren’t in Europe.”
Most people point to the strikeforce of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge as the key to Liverpool’s title challenge.
They’ve now hit 48 League goals between them. That’s more than the best produced by the double acts of Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, or John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley.
Their total is only bettered by Roger Hunt and Ian St John, who scored 52 League goals when Bill Shankly’s team won its first title 50 years ago.
“There are seven games to go, so I’m sure Suarez and Sturridge will break that record,” says Gillespie.
“They have done brilliantly as individuals but I think they have more to offer as a pair.
“If they keep progressing, they will become the best scoring partnership Liverpool have ever had.
“I played with and against the Dalglish-Rush pairing, and though I’ll always believe they were the greatest, I admit I’d hate to play against these two.
“Suarez is one of those rare players who combine brilliance with desire. Sturridge has been sensational but he’s still learning and that’s scary.
“Their form has led to suggestions that they’re making up for the deficiencies in defence.
“But people have also said that about City this season. They’ve said it about Barcelona for years and even about the great Brazilian teams of the past.
“It’s easy to point the finger, but if you’re winning games handsomely, it’s not so much of a problem.”
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