Liverpool looking to break Premier League winter champions hoodoo
The Reds are looking to avoid the curse that has plagued Premier League teams in recent years.
We’ve almost reached the halfway point of the 2024-25 Premier League season with games coming up on Boxing Day (26 December) and New Year’s Eve.
At this stage of the season, Liverpool are the side to beat as Arne Slot’s men hold a four-point advantage over second placed Chelsea, but also have a game in hand after the Merseyside derby against Everton was postponed recently.
With 39 points and at the top of the Premier League, Liverpool are heading into the festive period as ‘winter champions’, a title that has not boded well for the leading teams in the past with recent ‘winter champions’ slipping up as the season advances. This is a curse that Liverpool under the guidance of Arne Slot will be keen to break.
The Christmas curse
In four of the last six Premier League seasons, the team that leads the way going into the Christmas fixtures has failed to finish as champion, benefiting Manchester City, who have been crowned champions in English football during the past four campaigns.
The first of these situations occurred in the 2018-19 season, when Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool went into the Xmas break as leaders in winter, but in the end City ended up winning by one point difference (98 over 97 for Liverpool).
History repeated itself in 2020-21 when, after being champions in 2019-20, Klopp’s Reds aspired to win another title. However, in the end, City once again snatched glory after the Anfield side slipped up in the second phase of the campaign.
Recently the ‘curse’ has struck Arsenal in both 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. The Gunners were table toppers come the Christmas period but come season end, they lost out on both occasions to eventual champions City. The first season saw the Manchester side secure the title by a difference of five points, while in the most recent season, it was by two points with Guardiola’s men bagging the title on the last day of the season.
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