THEIR detractors continue to say that Liverpool “can’t keep getting away with it” but there’s no getting away from the truth that Rafael Benitez’s side could be celebrating a historic first Premier League title if they continue to do so.

“They’re going to get found out soon, just wait and see” claim the cynics but here we are eight games into the new Premier League season and Liverpool are still sitting pretty at the summit alongside Chelsea.

Of course the real test will come next Sunday when Benitez takes his team to Luiz Felipe Scolari’s free-scoring Londoners with the hosts defending a record 86-game unbeaten sequence at Stamford Bridge but so far this campaign Liverpool have overcome every challenge thrown at them.

They’ve certainly done it the hard way too, coming from behind to win four out of their eight Premier League matches to date.

Six out of Liverpool’s 13 goals have come in the last 10 minutes of games and eight in the last 20 minutes while before Wigan’s arrival at Anfield the only first half goals Benitez’s side had ‘scored’ were an own goal by Manchester United’s Wes Brown and Steven Gerrard’s bizarrely disallowed effort in the 0-0 draw with Stoke City which if given would have been his 100th for the club and would surely have put Liverpool two points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table right now.

It remains unclear while Benitez’s side have been such slow starters in matches but more importantly they’re fantastic finishers and their grandstand climaxes could well prove to be the key to any title challenge.

What does seem crystal is that the Spaniard, known in the past for his defensive solidity, has adopted a more attack-minded approach in the Premier League this term, aware that draws cost his side dearly last season when it came to a championship charge and as a result their games have generally been more open.

Sure Liverpool have not been as slick or convincing as the West End’s nouveau riche rouble billionaires but under the Spaniard, they maintain an amazing knack of coming back to win games even when they played badly and that’s arguably the greatest footballing quality of all.

Benitez was forced to make four changes from the side that started the 3-2 win at Manchester City 13 days earlier as Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres were replaced by Daniel Agger, Andrea Dossena, Jermaine Pennant and Robbie Keane.

For all the talk of Emile Heskey being lined up for a cut-price Liverpool return from Wigan in January with the Anfield’s former £11million record signing out of contract in the summer, the in-form England striker did not join Latics goalkeeper Chris Kirkland in returning to his old stamping ground on this occasion as a bout of sciatica kept him sidelined.

As a result, Steve Bruce adopted a more cautious 4-5-1 formation but it worked well for long periods with Wilson Palacios keeping Gerrard surprisingly subdued in a similar role to the one he played at Anfield for a Birmingham side also managed by the former Manchester United centre-back 13 months ago.