David James has cited the points target that Liverpool must strive to reach if they’re to win the Premier League this season.
The Reds currently sit top of the table with 18 points after seven matches, having won six and lost one, although a difficult run of fixtures after the October international break could make it a tall order to maintain their impressive average of 2.57 points per game.
James sets points target for Liverpool
Speaking on the BBC’s Premier League Review podcast, the ex-Liverpool goalkeeper believes that 90 points is the target that his former club should set for themselves if they’re to dethrone Manchester City next May.
James said: “The way I see it, 90 points is what a team should be aiming for to win the league. Very basic, you know – win 30 games and lose the other eight.
“If you kind of go by that model, it doesn’t matter who you lose the other eight to. You still end up with 90 points, despite all the speed bumps. Lose them, that’s fine, but make sure you win 30 games.”
Liverpool will likely need 90+ points to win Premier League
In six of the last eight seasons, the eventual Premier League winners surpassed the 90-point mark (the two exceptions saw Man City triumph with 89 and 86), so James’ projection is a fair one for Liverpool to strive towards.
The Reds have exceeded 90 points three times in the last six years but have just one title to show for it, with 97 somehow being only good enough for second in 2018/19 as Pep Guardiola’s side agonisingly earned one more.
We finished on 82 last season with almost entirely the same squad that Arne Slot has now, which suggests that we’re not a million miles away from the threshold that we’ll likely need in order to knock City off their perch.
In previous years, Liverpool have paid the price for too many draws rather than defeats, something that the current side appear to be putting right in the early weeks of the campaign.
The journey from 18 points to 90+ is still a long one, and the Reds have yet to face what’ll probably be their biggest obstacles to Premier League glory, but they could hardly be in a healthier position approaching the quarterway mark.
For Slot and his players, the immediate focus will be on preserving their place at the top of the table after a thankless run of games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa between now and mid-November.