Having previously insisted the top-four was the only aim, Brendan Rodgers now admits that Liverpool are hoping to end their long wait for the title.
Only Manchester United, with 20, have won more than the 18 league titles collected by the Anfield club, yet the last of these successes came way back in 1990. Nobody quite expected them to launch a bid to end their wait this season, but they have played some superb football and are as powerful as they have been in many a year.
At the weekend they brushed aside then table toppers Arsenal 5-1 on Merseyside, and on Wednesday night they showed their battling qualities to come from behind twice to beat Fulham, bottom of the table, 3-2. The Reds are currently in fourth place with a cushion of three points, but they are just four behind leaders Chelsea.
Rodgers has repeatedly said his side are not in the hunt for the title this season, but with just 12 games left, he is changing his tune. And he also feels there is an advantage in that two of their rivals for the crown, including Jose Mourinho’s side, have yet to visit Anfield, although he also accepts he is relying on other clubs to do him a favour.
“We’re just going to keep pushing and I think we’ve shown enough times that we’re a very good side,” Rodgers told Sky Sports. “We’re chasing, but we need some of them to drop points before anything else can happen. We know we have Chelsea and Manchester City to play at home which we’ll look forward to because we’ve been outstanding at home but we’ve just got to take it game by game. I’m enjoying watching the team improve.”
Liverpool turn their attention to the FA Cup this weekend, when they travel to the capital to face Arsenal for a place in the last eight of the competition. What has undoubtedly also helped the Merseyside club is a lack of European competition, unlike their rivals, which gives them time to prepare for their domestic pursuit of honours.
This is a problem Rodgers will almost certainly have to counter next season, when he will be hoping to fire his players up for the challenge of competing in the UEFA Champions League. And should they enter the competition as English champions, it would be one of the biggest surprises since the inception of the Premier League.
