Liverpool's Challengers Are Letting Them Off The Hook

Liverpool are going through a very bad patch. Five League defeats already and injuries to star men definitely adds up to a crisis- but though their position is dire, it isn't catastrophic.

Despite their poor run the Reds lie just one point off fourth place. Partly this is because they don't do draws- when Rafa's team perform they win. It's just that when they're bad, they tend to be dire.

The other factor in their favour is that the pretenders to a Champions League place haven't taken advantage. This is essentially about three teams- Manchester City, Spurs and Aston Villa. Everton;s early season injuries probably puts them too far back and Sunderland are still very inconsistent

On Sunday Man City went to Birmingham and were fortunate to come away with a 0-0. That was their fourth draw in a row in a period when they could have put some distance between them and Liverpool.

Mark Hughes hasn't yet solved the problem of how to get the best from his multi-talented squad and he's had to get by without Emmanuel Adebayor, his best striker. There is a pressing need to get back to winnng ways.

Spurs blistering start to the campaign has stalled. Being beaten by Arsenal isn't a shock but following a home loss to Stoke it has sent the jitters around White Hart lane. Tottenham have lost four times now and that includes defeats to three of the 'Big 4'.

Aston Villa began badly on the opening day but then went on a great unbeaten sequence. However , despite a morale boosting win over Chelsea, they have drawn three of their last five League games and lost at Blackburn, That isn't the sort of form that will grab fourth spot.

It's dangerous to assume that Liverpool are a spent force; the title may be beyond them but Benitez's team could go on a solid run in the Premiership. One of the challengers needs to put together an excellent sequence of results, otherwise Liverpool can wrest back the initiative.