Tottenham need Liverpool win to keep title hopes alive
Published:
Tottenham Hotspur go in to their clash with Liverpool hoping that they can still win the Premier League and a historical precedence shows they need to.
Spurs are priced at 11/4 to finish top, but need to catch up with Leicester City before they can start dreaming of a first league glory since 1961.
One big step they can take towards that is beating the Reds and Mauricio Pochettino’s side can be backed at 19/10 to pick up the vital three points when they head to Anfield.
Not only will a victory keep the pressure up on the Foxes, but history suggests it’s necessary if Spurs truly harbour table-topping aspirations.
Starting with the 2000/01 campaign, only twice has a team lifted the Premier League without beating Liverpool at least once.
Both occasions involved Manchester United sides, with the 2000/01 and 2008/09 vintages becoming champions despite going winless against the Reds.
Thus, Man Utd are the only side to emerge with the Premier League trophy without taking three points off the Merseysiders this century.
However, both these title campaigns saw the Red Devils end the season at least four points clear of their nearest rivals, meaning their dominance of the league was such that defeats at the hands of their north-west rivals couldn’t arrest their ascent to the Premier League summit.
Furthermore, Liverpool’s role as king-makers is even more apparent when you look even further back into the depth of history.
Ever since the Premier League formed in 1992, only four championship winning sides have got their hands on the trophy without beating the Reds and Arsenal are the only team other than the Red Devils to do so.
Unfortunately for Spurs, they do not have this luxury and will need to overturn a five-point gap to beat Leicester to the title and beating Liverpool is a must.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
