Perfect at Anfield, Keeps Liverpool's Title Chances Alive

LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY – After failing to win the Merseyside derby against Everton, Thursday (13/2/2025) WIB, Liverpool is confirmed to be unable to match Manchester City's 100-point achievement in the 2017-2018 season. To become the champions of England, "The Reds" must win all eight remaining home matches.

The match against Wolverhampton in the 25th week, Sunday (16/2/2025) at 21.00 WIB, will be Liverpool's first test to achieve perfection at Anfield in the last four months of the 2024-2025 season. With rivals not as fierce as in the remaining six away games, the results of Mohamed Salah and his teammates at Anfield will be crucial for their championship ambitions.

After Wolves, Liverpool will host Newcastle United, Southampton, Everton, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and Crystal Palace at Anfield.

Meanwhile, in matches outside Anfield, the Reds will face a steeper challenge as they will visit the homes of Aston Villa, Manchester City, Fulham, Leicester City, Chelsea, and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Inevitably, Liverpool must win all their remaining home matches to bring their ambition of securing the 20th English League trophy, or the second in the Premier League era, closer. By winning eight home matches, Liverpool will add 24 points, bringing their total to 81 points.

Since the arrival of Pep Guardiola at City in the 2016-2017 season, a team needs an average of 90 points to win the English Premier League title. As a result, Liverpool only needs to secure three more away victories from the six remaining away games to lift the English championship trophy at the end of this season.

Although having the opportunity to amass a maximum of 99 points, the same number of points when they became champions in the 2019-2020 season, Liverpool this season only needs to match the average points tally of the champion team to lift the trophy at the end of this season. The condition is, they must also defeat their closest rival, Arsenal, in the duel at Anfield on May 10th.

If Liverpool can be perfect at Anfield, then "The Cannons", Arsenal's nickname, will only collect a maximum of 89 points this season. As a result, a collection of 90 points is enough for the Reds to become champions. Liverpool in the Arne Slot era has the opportunity to become the third team in club history to end the season as champions thanks to a collection of 90 points or more.

Liverpool first won the title with a collection of 90 points in the 1987-88 season under Kenny "The King" Dalglish. Then, under the control of Juergen Klopp in 2019-2020.

I think we are mentally stronger than last season.

Slot admitted dropping two points in the final minutes of the Merseyside derby was disappointing, as they missed the chance to move nine points clear of Arsenal. However, Slot said his team had shown the mental strength that was vital to their quest to maintain their top spot.

"I have heard many compliments for my team's game this season. However, they have a very strong mental strength. That is what helped them achieve crucial results, even though they failed to show their best performance," said Slot in a pre-match conference, Friday (2/15/2025), as reported by the club's website.

"We had the most difficult match I've ever had against Everton. Thanks to the players' incredible mental strength, the team was able to come back and lead 2-1 until the 97th minute. I think we are stronger mentally than last season," Slot added.

Slot was still able to accompany his team on the sidelines against Wolves, despite receiving a red card from referee Michael Oliver at the end of the Merseyside derby.

The Premier League website on Friday only announced fines for Slot and Liverpool. Slot was initially said to have been banned from accompanying his team for two matches, but that statement has since been removed.

The Reds will welcome Wolves with a much better statistical record. They managed to beat Wolves 2-1 at Molineux Stadium in September.

Then, from 21 duels in the Premier League, Liverpool won 17 times and only suffered two draws and defeats.

However, Slot warned that the second match against Wolves this season will be more difficult. The Dutch tactician is confident that Wolves will play much better based on the presence of new manager Vitor Pereira and the players' great ambition to move away from the relegation zone. In addition, Wolves ended a four-game losing streak in the league by defeating Aston Villa on February 2.

"The second half of the season is always more difficult. I feel the new manager (Wolves) has gone through a very good period with positive results. So, we cannot expect an easy win," he said.

Wolves left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri said his team came to Anfield in a much fresher mental state. The reason is, Wolves started February with two important wins. After defeating Aston Villa, Wolves beat Blackburn Rovers in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

"We are very happy and have a lot of confidence after the current winning streak. We have prepared well to face Liverpool," said Ait-Nouri, who scored his team's only goal against Liverpool in the first meeting of the season, as reported by the club website.

Ait-Nouri admitted that Anfield is one of the most difficult stadiums to visit because of the very intimidating atmosphere for visiting teams.

"We have to be very focused in the match. We hope to play with the best performance and get points from Anfield. That will increase our confidence," said Ait-Nouri, who comes from Algeria.