Luis Suarez: Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea Are Unreachable

Liverpool’s star striker Luis Suarez has basically written off Liverpool’s chances at winning the English Premier League title in 2011-12. Why?

Well he gave three reasons: Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

“We have no limit and want to stay in the top four, but winning the Premier League is now very difficult,” said Suarez.

“The main reason why it is so difficult is because the two Manchesters [United and City] and Chelsea are unreachable. But we can win the cups.”

This is what the Barclays Premier League table looks like after seven weeks of football.

2011-2012 Barclays Premier League Table
			Overall							Home						Away
POS		TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		GD	Pts
1		Manchester United	7	6	1	0	24	5		4	0	0	16	3		2	1	0	8	2		19	19
2		Manchester City	7	6	1	0	23	5		3	0	0	9	0		3	1	0	14	5		18	19
3		Chelsea	7	5	1	1	17	8		3	0	0	9	3		2	1	1	8	5		9	16
4		Newcastle United	7	4	3	0	9	4		2	1	0	5	2		2	2	0	4	2		5	15
5		Liverpool	7	4	1	2	10	8		2	1	0	6	3		2	0	2	4	5		2	13
6		Tottenham Hotspur	6	4	0	2	11	10		2	0	1	7	6		2	0	1	4	4		1	12
7		Aston Villa	7	2	5	0	9	5		2	2	0	6	2		0	3	0	3	3		4	11
8		Stoke City	7	2	3	2	4	8		1	2	0	2	1		1	1	2	2	7		-4	9
9		Swansea City	7	2	2	3	6	9		2	2	0	5	0		0	0	3	1	9		-3	8
10		Norwich City	7	2	2	3	7	10		1	1	1	3	3		1	1	2	4	7		-3	8
11		Queens Park Rangers	7	2	2	3	5	13		0	2	1	1	5		2	0	2	4	8		-8	8
12		Fulham	7	1	4	2	10	7		1	3	0	9	3		0	1	2	1	4		3	7
13		Everton	6	2	1	3	6	8		1	1	2	5	6		1	0	1	1	2		-2	7
14		Wolverhampton Wanderers	7	2	1	4	6	10		1	0	3	3	7		1	1	1	3	3		-4	7
15		Arsenal	7	2	1	4	10	16		2	0	1	4	2		0	1	3	6	14		-6	7
16		Sunderland	7	1	3	3	9	8		1	1	2	7	5		0	2	1	2	3		1	6
17		West Bromwich Albion	7	1	2	4	5	10		0	1	2	1	3		1	1	2	4	7		-5	5
18		Wigan Athletic	7	1	2	4	5	11		1	1	1	4	3		0	1	3	1	8		-6	5
19		Blackburn Rovers	7	1	1	5	8	17		1	0	3	5	10		0	1	2	3	7		-9	4
20		Bolton Wanderers	7	1	0	6	9	21		0	0	4	4	15		1	0	2	5	6		-12	3

Despite not really hitting their form, Liverpool are fifth in the table. Surely they will be able to make a run at fourth place, but Newcastle United and Spurs will definitely have something to say about that.

The Magpies have the best defence in the Premier League thus far, having given up just four goals in seven matches. After the first week of the Premier League campaign, I named Newcastle United as a dark horse to finish in fourth place. My prediction looks good at the moment, but Spurs seem to be gaining on the Toon.

Tottenham Hotspur have been on a tear after dropping their first two games of 2011-12 to the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City. Spurs have now won four straight games in the Premier League and are top four contenders once again.

Can the Reds beat out Newcastle and Spurs to snag a place in the UEFA Champions League in 2012-13?

Yes, but only under two conditions.

The first condition is that Luis Suarez must continue to provide Liverpool with outstanding performances week in and week out. Liverpool seem to struggle finding the back of the net when the Uruguayan is not on top form. The season is still young, but the Reds must fix that dilemma sooner than later.

Perhaps Andy Carroll will step up and validate his £35m British record transfer fee?

The second condition is that the Liverpool back four must come to play every week. It’s not like Liverpool have been poor defensively, they have surrendered just eight goals in seven games, but if they are not on attacking form they must not concede goals.

If Liverpool can do those two things, they will put themselves in position to be playing football on Tuesdays and Wednesdays next season.