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Bookmakers have paid out on Liverpool winning the Premier League title after the Reds opened up an 11-point lead over rivals Man City. They battled to a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, while Pep Guardiola's side could only draw 2-2 away at Newcastle. The champions have now drawn two and lost three of their 14 games and they now have a huge amount of ground to make up. Some bookies clearly think Liverpool are already home and dry, even though we are only 14 games into the 2019-20 campaign.
Top online sports betting sites like Betway have now paid out punters that bet on Liverpool to win the league. The longest odds available on the Reds were 5/2 and they have been steadily decreasing during their sensational start to the season. They are now just 1/4 with most bookies to lift the famous trophy, but Betway has decided to cut its losses early. It is a stunt that previously backfired for Betfred boss Fred Done, who paid out all bets on Man Utd winning the title, only for Arsenal to catch the Red Devils and overhaul them.
Betway bosses will be left with egg on their faces if Liverpool crumble this season, but they have been close to immaculate thus far. Jurgen Klopp's men have taken 40 points from a possible 42. They have 13 wins and one draw from 14 games, and they always seem to find a way to outfox their opponents. Last season they held a similarly emphatic lead at one point, only for Man City to embark on a sensational 14-game winning streak and pip them to the title by a single point. Yet City appears to have gone backwards this season.
They sauntered to the title in record-breaking fashion in 2018/19 and then put in a Herculean effort to overhaul Liverpool last term. Yet they decided against replacing retiring captain Vincent Kompany in the summer, and that has backfired. Star defender Aymeric Laporte went down with a long-term injury and Fernandinho has had to fill in at the back, with mixed results. The champions have scored more goals than any other team this season, while enjoying more possession and shots on goal than all of their rivals, but defensive shortcomings have been their downfall.
Liverpool have not exactly been watertight at the back, as they conceded 12 goals in 14 games, but they look very strong in every department right now. They have a horrendously busy period ahead, with fixtures coming in thick and fast, so it will be interesting to see if they finally slip up, but they already have a healthy cushion and they appear determined to win their first title in 30 years. Anfield is a fortress and they have been really strong on the road too.
There is the tantalising possibility of an alternative title rival emerging. Leicester, managed by former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, picked up a sixth straight win on Sunday and they are just eight points behind Liverpool. They look strong at the back, dynamic going forwards and composed in midfield, and they are second in the table. They could mount a more credible title challenge than Man City at this rate.
Rodgers came agonisingly close to ending Liverpool's title drought during his time at Anfield. It is hard to forget Steven Gerrard's slip that allowed Demba Ba in to score and break their hearts. It would be bitterly ironic if Rodgers – sacked by Liverpool before rebuilding his reputation at Celtic and then returning to the Premier League in a blaze of glory with Leicester – was the man to deny them that elusive title triumph. The likes of Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel know what it takes to win this division, and they cannot be written off.
Yet Liverpool are very much in the driving seat right now. Klopp has proven himself to be a world-class manager over the past two years, winning the Champions League and then establishing Liverpool as domestic heavyweights despite lacking the financial backing of an oligarch. It might be rash on the part of the bookies to pay out early on the Reds, but they look invincible right now and it would take a serious meltdown for them to fail.
