IT’S English football’s most packed trophy cabinet. Yet in 16 seasons its contents haven’t once been asked to shuffle up and make room for the Premier League title.

But now Liverpool are in potentially the best position they have ever been to strike for that trophy, it’s inevitable certain words are already creeping into the vocabulary even before Christmas is out.

Nerves. Tension. Anxiety. Pressure. And midfielder Xabi Alonso has one of his own to add to the list.

“We don’t need to get obsessed about the title race,” he said.

But an obsession is what it is. When you’ve gone 19 years and been forced to watch Leeds, Blackburn, Chelsea and tomorrow’s opponents Arsenal play musical chairs with your throne it can’t be anything else.

And that’s before Manchester United’s dominance in the Premier League era is taken into account. When it began they had only won seven titles in their entire history, a number dwarfed by the 18 on show at Anfield.

But after Sir Alex Ferguson led his side to their 10th top flight victory in 16 years last year, that gap has narrowed to one.

It makes the desperation for number 19 more acute than ever and it’s felt in every corner of Anfield, not just by the supporters but players as well.

Which goes some way towards explaining why Liverpool have performed so unconvincingly at home this season compared to an away record which has surrendered just five points.

And why tomorrow’s trip to the Emirates may help relieve some of that uneasiness and allow Liverpool to take the same kind of natural and relaxed approach that saw them come away from another part of London with three points in October.

“Hopefully it will give us more confidence going to places like the Emirates,” added Alonso, who scored the winner in that 1-0 win at Chelsea.

“The win at Stamford Bridge came after a good performance – we fully deserved it. We will have to repeat this kind of performance if we want to win at the Emirates and hopefully we’re ready for this.