MARK LAWRENSON: Title tilt looking more likely for Liverpool

Dec 30 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S destruction of Newcastle on Sunday will not have gone unnoticed in the manager’s offices of their Premier League title rivals.

The manner in which Rafael Benitez’s side swept aside an admittedly inept home side will have sent out the clearest signal yet that the Anfield championship campaign has real steel to it.

Manager Benitez indicated that if his team were still top of the table coming out of Christmas he would feel they were 80% towards being crowned champions.

And few would argue with that assessment.

Without doubt, Liverpool are now the team to stop as far as anyone harbouring ambitions of the title should be concerned.

They have been picking up points when not always playing to their best, but have also shown how clinical they can be at the peak of their game.

And all this without Fernando Torres and with Robbie Keane sitting on the bench and Jamie Carragher playing at right-back.

It just goes to show Liverpool have become a team for all seasons with a squad for all occasions.

They skated through the festive double-header with ease with Steven Gerrard once again the focal point for their winning momentum.

Benitez seems to have now settled on the best role for the talismanic skipper, who can have a real influence on games in his present position.

It is only natural. If you are the best player on the school team, you want to play in central midfield because you see more of the ball and can influence more of the game. Gerrard still looks a top player when he is played out in one of the wider roles, but it is a case of waiting for the ball more in those areas rather than being able to drive the team on.

It is the same as Wayne Rooney looking far more effective for Manchester United down the middle.