Having failed to win a league game in 2009, many are writing off Rafa Benitez’s chances of clinching Liverpool’s first Premier League title. However, the mental Spaniard has a good record of turning things around in the second half of the season, so its unwise to write off the Reds just yet.Chickendinner has provide the evidence:
» After last season’s January slump, Liverpool went on to finish the season in emphatic style. They won eleven, drew three and lost one of their final fifteen, meaning that they were comfortably the best team in the league from February onwards. Over that period they averaged 2.40 points a game to Manchester United’s 2.14.
» The post-January flourish was also the difference maker for Rafael Benitez’s first ever league title while in charge of Valencia seven seasons ago. By the end of January that season they were fourth in La Liga, four points off top, having been handicapped by drawing nine of their first 22 (compared to Liverpool’s nine in 23).
» However from February onwards Valencia took eight points more than any other team in the league, winning twelve, drawing three and losing one of their final sixteen.
