It was 30 years ago today that we witnessed one of the most thrilling climaxes in football history.
Indeed, alongside the last gasp Sergio Aguero goal of 2012, the Liverpool-Arsenal title decider of 1989 was arguably the most dramatic final day not just for many a lifetime but in English football history.
If you had told many Liverpool fans then, and indeed football supporters generally, that the Merseyside club would win the title the following season but no further championships for the next three decades you’d have been laughed at.
Yet, here we are, and that is exactly what has happened. Only now, in the year 2020, are Liverpool on the verge of finally ending their quest for the holy grail.
And no one can say they don’t deserve the Premier League title.
Of course, no title should ever be awarded until a side cannot be mathematically caught, just as no clubs should be promoted or relegated if a campaign is incomplete.
It’s imperative the season restarts and the outstanding games played: No points-per game ratio prediction of what may happen. No guesses, no formulas that were not in the rulebook when the season began last August.
To do otherwise makes a mockery of the integrity of the league and the football pyramid generally.
Incidentally, the decision to award titles and relegate clubs in France and Scotland is laughable and amounts to a farce.
Celtic’s ninth title in a row and Paris St Germain’s 2020 success will always have an asterisk against their names which will mean they were top when the campaign was halted but never completed.
Champions not by default but not of full value either.
Although they will want to secure the title any way they can, Liverpool will primarily want to do so by completing the season – a season in which they have been far and away the best side in England.
That they have dominated at a time when four of the ‘big six’ (Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd) are in either decline or transition should not detract from their achievement.
Nor should the fact that reigning champions Manchester City failed to replace their influential skipper Vincent Kompany – that was their own mismanagement.
That they then lost their only other world class centre back Aymeric Laporte just four games into the season proved the point and their title defence was undermined from that very moment.
That the overall quality of the league is, in my view, poorer than it has been for some time – compare the other major top clubs and sides near the bottom (and their respective point tallies) – again does not detract from Liverpool’s own performance week-in week-out which has been first class and impressively consistent.
The truth is simple: up until the hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool have been far and away the best team in the country – producing a near flawless league campaign to date and doing everything in their power to end 30 years of hurt.
Just one defeat in 29 league games is testament to that. More so, is the fact they have won 27 of those matches – including many tough assignments away from home – another example of what they would be worthy champions.
The intimidating atmosphere fans create at Anfield has actually helped the red half of Merseyside rack up 55 home league games without defeat.
Naturally, the longer the football break has been, the more concerned some players and Liverpool fans have become. As the wait continues, there has been agonizing amongst some of its supporters; uncertainty with the story of the club’s revival missing its final page.
Even their manager Jurgen Klopp recently broke his silence, saying how unjust it would have been if his side wasn’t awarded the Premier League title, after such a dominant season.
He is right – it would be. But the games must be played and, based on what is happening right now, they will be.
Then, when the Merseysiders do finally end their wait, not one person can legitimately argue they don’t deserve it.
Liverpool deserve much respect and would make worthy champions.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
