Richard Buxton: Beware, Reds, of possible slip-ups ahead
In the last decade, only two teams that led the EPL on Christmas Day did not go on to win the title - and both were Liverpool
Four words more emotive than "You'll Never Walk Alone" are ringing in Liverpool's ears.
Everything continues to stand in their favour, with a lead at the English Premier League summit enhanced by rare back-to-back defeats for Manchester City.
But those four little words will continue to haunt Anfield until a point of no return is reached.
| LIVERPOOL | ARSENAL |
This does not slip.
Steven Gerrard's rallying cry during the throes of the Reds' last unfulfilled title bid has haunted them since the former captain's catastrophic blunder against Chelsea in April 2014.
To this day, rival fans still sing gleefully about how he "gave it to Demba Ba".
To this day, those enduring the jibes still wonder about what might, and should, have been.
Gerrard became the designated fall guy because he sacrificed himself in the spotlight.
For the best part of a decade, he had been forced to drag Liverpool over the line almost single-handed.
Just weeks away from turning 34, something was always going to have to give.
More competent defenders would not have placed him under unnecessary pressure deep in his own half like Mamadou Sakho's uncertain back pass did.
A stronger goalkeeper would have stopped Ba in his tracks when he pounced on the loose ball like Simon Mignolet could not.
A more rounded Liverpool would have lifted the title where the class of 2014 threw it away.
Sunday morning's (Singapore time) showdown with a spluttering Arsenal will determine whether Juergen Klopp's side can last the distance where their predecessors abjectly failed.
Only two teams that finished top of the EPL pile on Christmas Day in the past decade have failed to win it at the end of the campaign.
It is a statistical quirk of both pain and embarrassment for Liverpool.
When the pressure begins to crank, they lose their heads.
Various managers allowed themselves to succumb to it.
Rafael Benitez chose to rant about "facts" and Manchester United.
Brendan Rodgers became punch-drunk in deriding Tottenham Hotspur's inability to vie for the title despite spending over £100 million (S$173.9m).
But it is perhaps Roy Evans' own fate which serves as Klopp's greatest warning from history.
In 1996/97, a five-point lead had opened up at the summit by the time the New Year approached, with reigning champions United appearing destined to be dethroned by their arch rivals.
Instead, Liverpool ended the season by finishing fourth in their own two-horse race.
With Manchester again snapping at Merseyside's heels, a repeat of that capitulation can never be truly discounted.
City's faltering has removed any direct pressure on Klopp's charges, but shifted the incentive to the rest of the EPL to relish ending their current unbeaten run.
Liverpool know the feeling all too well, having ended the current holders' 30-match streak earlier this year.
Little more than 11 months on, the hunters have become the hunted.
Klopp's assertion that only City can stop themselves winning the title has already rung true, even if the same can be said for his side, given their own track record of self-sabotage.
There are, however, enough reasons to believe that they can hold their nerve.
Across all departments, there are significant upgrades on the misshapen squad which not only surrendered their title bid on that afternoon in April 2014 but also destroyed it beyond repair.
Should Liverpool somehow fail to win the EPL this season, culpability, rather than finger-pointing, will be the order of business.
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