Runaway Reds halfway to heaven

World champion, European champion… English champion?

Liverpool's players are sweeping all before them as they seek to restore the team's status from the 1970s and '80s as club soccer's preeminent force.

But there's one trophy they really want. One trophy that keeps slipping from their grasp. One trophy that hasn't been in the cabinet at Anfield since 1990.

Surely this is Liverpool's season to end its wait for England's top-flight title and be champion for the first time in the Premier League era (starting 1992).

A season after missing out to Manchester City by a single point, Liverpool has moved up a notch－in terms of results, if not performances－and takes a 10-point lead into Christmas. Jurgen Klopp's red machine even has a game in hand over second-place Leicester and reigning champion City, which is a point further back in third.

Liverpool is unbeaten－winning 16 of its 17 games and drawing the other at fierce rival Manchester United－and has simply forgotten how to lose.

Crowned European champion for the sixth time in June, the Reds won the FIFA Club World Cup last weekend in Qatar and, as is becoming their trademark, left it late to seal victory in the final against Flamengo in extra time.

On only three occasions in the last 11 years has a team failed to win the Premier League when leading the standings at Christmas. Each time, it was Liverpool (2008-09, 2013-14, 2018-19) but the class of 2019-20 might be Liverpool's strongest team in a generation.

"We helped Liverpool to make this step with incredible, top players," said City manager Pep Guardiola, whose team won the league with points totals of 100 and 98 in the past two seasons. "And now it is the level you have to reach."

Here's how a season of 506 goals, five managerial changes and a curious shortage of clean sheets has shaped up so far.

Best player

It is hard to look past Jamie Vardy. The Leicester striker has 17 goals－six more than closest rivals Tammy Abraham of Chelsea and Southampton's Danny Ings. Vardy is well on course to surpass the 24 he netted in the team's improbable title-winning campaign in 2015-16. His hottest patch came from Oct 19-Dec 8, when he scored in eight straight league games.

The 32-year-old appears to be benefiting from his decision to retire from international soccer with England, leaving him fresh for club duty. England manager Gareth Southgate could yet come begging ahead of the European Championship next June and July, however.

Biggest surprise

Sheffield United is playing its first season of top-flight soccer in 12 years. You'd never know. The Blades start Christmas in fifth place, four points off the Champions League qualification positions and above the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal.

Chris Wilder's team of journeymen and previously unheralded youngsters are hard-working and coached brilliantly. A tactic of encouraging his central defenders to surge forward has paid off handsomely for Wilder's United, which hasn't lost any of its first nine away games, something never before achieved in the Premier League by a newly promoted club.

At home, the vociferous support of the Bramall Lane crowd has helped United take the scalp of Arsenal and hold Manchester United to a draw.

Biggest disappointment

Take your pick－there have been plenty. How about Manchester City, which has failed to maintain its form of the past two seasons by losing four of its first 16 games amid injuries to key players such as defender Aymeric Laporte. There's Arsenal, which is languishing in 11th place and on course for its worst finish in the Premier League era, and Everton, which－despite another offseason of heavy spending－is just four points above the relegation zone. Both teams have just changed managers. Meanwhile, eighth-place Manchester United is still struggling to break down the league's lesser lights. The biggest regret, however, might be the lack of a challenge to Liverpool.

Champions League chase

Three places appear sewn up－Liverpool as well as its two nearest rivals, Leicester and Manchester City. There's a 10-point gap between City and fourth-place Chelsea. Then it all depends on whether Frank Lampard's youthful Chelsea, which is four points clear of the chasing pack, can hold it together through the second half of the season. Expect Sheffield United to finally tail off, leaving Tottenham, Manchester United, and potentially Wolves－currently in sixth place, five points off the top four－to challenge Lampard's Blues.

Best goal

It can only be Son Heung-min's stunning solo effort in Tottenham's 5-0 win over Burnley, which saw the South Korea forward pick up the ball at the edge of his own penalty box, chart a course right through the heart of the Clarets' admittedly sluggish defense, and apply a finish from just inside the area. Twelve seconds, 12 touches, 80 meters, one dazzling goal.

Relegation scrap

Watford looked a certainty for relegation just a few weeks ago but a second change of manager this season－bringing in former Leicester coach Nigel Pearson－might be a clever move. The last-place Hornets were unlucky to lose at Liverpool 2-0 on Dec 14 and, last Sunday, beat Manchester United 2-0 for just their second win this term. They are six points from safety and finally have some momentum. Norwich, tied on points with Watford, has been exciting to watch in its return to the Premier League but the Canaries' leaky defense makes them team a big favorite for the drop. Similarly, third-to-last Aston Villa is conceding too many goals at present and, after losing coveted midfielder John McGinn to injury, could make an immediate return to the second tier.

Associated Press