Haven't read any of the posts since Swansea, but as I've been saying for a few weeks, the race for 4th place is over. We're 6 points ahead of our nearest rivals (people seem to underrate how big a gap that is at this point in the season, but it's HUGE), and we're, by virtually every measure, simply on another level quality-wise from Sherwood's Spurs. Our job now is to overtake those above us.



United and Spurs fans are now doing the sort of thing people on here have been doing the past X years. Looking 5 fixtures down the line and building up these ideas of "well if they only get 2 points from the next 12..." or "if we get 13 from 15...".Let's get this right kids - statistically we've been closer to the three sides above us than we have the teams 'competing for 4th'. "Oh, but stats don't tell you the whole picture, you can twist them however you want". Well, "the league table doesn't lie" and all that nonsense. We're 6 points ahead of anyone else competing for 4th. That's 6 points with a +32 goal difference on Spurs. That's a three game swing over eleven games. Spurs, the closest challenger for 4th, need us to drop points in 3 more games than them between now and the end of the season. Everton need us to drop points in 3 more games than them between now and the end of the season. Manchester United need us to lose four more games than them. Over the next 11. Not draw. Lose. Do you know how many we've lost this season? 5. Do you know how many league games we've lost since the start of 2013? 8 in 45. I'll go back even further. Since United won at Anfield last season on the 23rd of September 2012, we've lost 10 games. Out of 60 in the league. That's not with Sturridge or Coutinho. That's Rodgers record besides the first 5 games. We aren't an easy team to beat. Haven't been in a long fucking time. More than long enough to say it's part of the Brendan Rodgers Liverpool DNA, not a streak. We've lost one set of back-to-back fixtures under Rodgers, and they were away to City and Chelsea. But hey, we must be fucking due a collapse, because that's what piss-pants logic dictates, right?There is literally fucking nothing suggesting we're in a race for 4th instead of a title. I'm not even attempting to be an arrogant dickhead about it. It's just the only thing saying that is fucking cowards logic.Practically every decent statistical model has us nailed on for top four. Our goal difference (usually a decent indicator) is 2nd best in the league. We're the only team to have kept even remotely within touching distance of City's goalscoring. This Liverpool team had scored more goals after 25 games than any of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal teams had. More than any of Ferguson's league winning teams had. More than any of Chelsea's teams. More than Keegan's Newcastle, more than fucking London club or Keegan's Newcastle. More than the 87-88 team. We're not lucky to be where we are. We're closer to the top than we are to anyone who thinks they're in a 'race for 4th'. We've been picking up 2 points a game steady enough for long over a year now. With Suarez, without Suarez. With Sturridge, without Sturridge. The only thing that doesn't look 'title contenders' about us is our defensive record. And y'know what? It's roughly in the same ball park as United's and Spurs' ones. Not that it fucking matters, because no team below us in the league has scored more than our front 3, never mind the rest of the team.I'll just say this to end:If the league had started January 1st 2014, we'd be top.On December 25 2013, we were top.Here's a fucking thought for you - maybe we are in a false position. But maybe it's not because we're 'due' to slip up or United or Spurs are ready to pounce and hanging in there. Maybe it's because we were unlucky having the two toughest fixtures in the calender back-to-back, over 3 days, during the most congested period in the calender? Maybe that's it. Because we were top of the league before those two games to the bankrolled pair. We're top of the form league since those two games. Maybe we are in a false position after all...Or fucking maybe, just maybe I should be scared of the name of other clubs, or guard against optimism lest I look foolish for actually being bullish about what is one of the best teams in the country, whether you want to measure by form, underlining statistics, the league table, basic common sense gleaned from watching matches or anything else that isn't piss-pants cowards logic because you're scared to fail and think your posts on here matter a jot about what will happen between now and the end of the season.