Are Liverpool title contenders this season?

Before the season, no one would have predicted that Liverpool would be challenging for the title however after managing to pick up 7 points from their first 3 games, including an impressive point last night at the Emirates, I think Liverpool fans might be surprised with what their team can achieve this season.

Position : 3rd

Games Played : 3

Points : 7

Results :
 Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool

 Liverpool 1-0 Bournemouth
 Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool

Next 5 fixtures :
 Liverpool vs West Ham United

 Manchester United vs Liverpool

 Liverpool vs Norwich

 Liverpool vs Aston Villa

 Everton vs Liverpool

Liverpool kicked off the season away at Stoke (where they ended last season's campaign with a 6-1 defeat) however this season they managed to get their revenge as they managed to record a 1-0 win. Despite not playing to their full potential, Liverpool defended well and managed to keep the Stoke attackers at bay. New signings Milner, Gomez and Clyne looked solid especially James Milner as it looks like he could form a solid partnership with fellow Englishman Jordan Henderson. It looked like the game was going to end in a 0-0 draw but in the 86th minute, the little Brazilian magician Coutinho surged forward to the edge of the Stoke box before launching a stunning strike into the back of the net. Christian Benteke struggled to get involved in the game as the Stoke defence were clearly well drilled on how to keep the powerful Belgian out of the game and fellow new signing Roberto Firmino came on late on in the game so didn't really have an effect on the game however he did show off his impressive work rate, a similar trait possessed by South American footballers. Overall it wasn't the best performance from a new look Liverpool side however they got the 3 points and in a competitive league where every point matters, it was an ideal start to the season.

Yet another unconvincing victory for Liverpool but a victory nonetheless saw the Reds continue their 100% start to the 2015/16 season. Liverpool's £32.5million signing opened his account but the main talking point about this game was the manner in which Benteke scored. Jordan Henderson sent in a whipped in-swinging cross to the far post on 26 minutes and despite being in a clear offside position, Philippe Coutinho made a clear attempt to play the ball which put off Bournemouth's keeper Artur Boruc meaning he was in a poor position when the ball fell to Benteke who poked the loose ball home. Bournemouth will feel robbed as in the 5th Tommy Elphick's header was disallowed as the referee felt that the centre-back fouled Dejan Lovren but in my opinion, Lovren was out jumped and out strengthed by his opponent. Bournemouth held most of the possession and had created a good few chances, most notable of these was Matt Ritchie hitting the post however Liverpool weathered the storm and held on to secure their second 1-0 win in a row. Philippe Coutinho was outstanding again and he was a clear man of the match for me as every chance Liverpool had came from the work of the flamboyant Brazilian. Christian Benteke was absolutely outstanding in this game in my opinion as his work rate was phenomenal when chasing down loose balls, he showed great strength against the Bournemouth defence, both aerially and in his hold up play and finally his link up play with Coutinho was very good and they look like they are forming a strong partnership. The problem for Liverpool in this game was that captain Jordan Henderson has picked up an injury so they'll be hoping for his return to be imminent.

Benteke's chance in the picture to the left summed up Liverpool's performance last night, agonisingly close but not enough. The reds dominated the first half and yet again Philippe Coutinho was instrumental in the midfield and attacking front as he hit the bar twice in a first half where Liverpool played their best football of the season. Yet another decision went Liverpool's way however as Cazorla played a splitting ball through the stagnant Liverpool defence to find the on-rushing Aaron Ramsey who found the net expertly from a tight angle only to be denied by a wrong offside decision however this made Liverpool up their game as they pushed for the all important opening goal. Their best chance fell to striker Benteke after Firmino played the ball across the six-yard box to the onrushing Belgian who really should have scored however he was denied by an unreal save by Arsenal keeper Petr Cech. Arsenal grew in confidence in the second half and it took a very solid defensive performance from Liverpool to keep the score level. This was arguably the best defensive performance I have seen from Martin Skrtel who stepped and led the Liverpool back line in style. Both full-backs looked promising for Liverpool both going forward and defensively and 18 year old Joe Gomez held his own superbly against one of the hardest teams to play away against in the league. When Arsenal did break through the Liverpool defence, their keeper Simon Mignolet was in inspired form and kept his side in the game to achieve his third consecutive clean sheet this season.

What Liverpool have shown us so far this season is that they can get results even when they aren't performing at their best. More importantly they've done this away from home twice already this season and the main trait of Champions is to win when you're not at your best and if Liverpool can continue doing just that then there is no reason they can't win their first Premier League title. When you look at their next 5 games, they have 3 must win home games against mid-table teams and 2 of their hardest away games this season as they travel to Old Trafford and Goodison Park, the homes of their biggest rivals in England. If they play as well as they did in the first half at Arsenal last night for the whole 90 minutes then there is no reason that they can't pick up maximum points from these games as long as they are clinical. Liverpool will be relying on the goals from Benteke and Danny Ings when he is played and the strikers will certainly be helped if Liverpool's best player Philippe Coutinho can keep in current form and avoid injury and if he achieves this, he can lead the Reds to glory this year. Henderson, Milner and Can are going to need to be consistently strong in midfield battles especially when they play against midfielders like Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Matic, Toure, Fernandinho and many more. In defence they need Clyne and Gomez to be as strong defensively as they are going forward and if Skrtel and Lovren keep fit, they could be just as hard to play against as Cahill and Terry were last year. This is a big season for Simon Mignolet as he needs to prove just how good he is and with more performances like his one last night, the number of critics he has is sure to drop. If Daniel Sturridge ever returns from injury and can return to his goalscoring form of when he was playing alongside Luis Suarez, Liverpool could threaten against almost every team they play. If Liverpool achieve all of this, there is no reason why they can't win the league this season.