Liverpool has looked solid lately, coming off a 2-0 win against AFC Bournemouth in the 4th round of the FA cup. They tied 2-2 with Aston Villa the week before, but their 5-3 win over Stoke City January 12th was pretty impressive. They are currently 4th in the Barclays Premier League standings right behind Chelsea with 43 points and a 25 goal differential which is second in the league behind Manchester City’s whopping 38. People haven’t been taking Liverpool seriously however, because most of their wins were against low quality teams. What people may not know is that they defeated Manchester United 1-0 earlier in the year. Being shut out is something that Manchester United is not used to doing. They have only been shut out five times this season and two of those were 0-0 ties (one with Chelsea and the other with Real Sociedad). Back to Liverpool, their star player Luis Suarez is having a fantastic season so far. He already has 22 goals, five assists and a 58.5 percent shooting accuracy. Last season, he scored 23 goals, had five assists, and had a 50.3 percent shooting accuracy. His improvement has definitely provided a spark for this surging Liverpool team. Not only that, but the 26-year-old striker tied the record for becoming the fastest player in Premier League history to score 20 goals in a season when Liverpool beat Hull City 2-0 recently. What’s even more impressive about that record is that he only did it in 15 appearances. Assisting Suarez in this hopeful title run is the ageless captain Steven Gerrard. In 17 starts, he has five goals and six assists. The midfielder’s shooting accuracy has also improved greatly from 54.2 percent last season to 62.5 percent this season. There’s no doubt that his performances week in and week out are a determining factor for the success of this club. The 41-year-old manager Brendan Rodgers has done a good job with this team. He’s only been with the club for two seasons, but during those two seasons he has formed a title contender in Liverpool. The season is only midway through, but it’s during this time that the teams start playing like champions. Liverpool is certainly looking like a champion at this point.
The Basket Foot 