Rafa Benitez's Liverpool have all too often been branded as a team lacking any kind of creativity or style, instead preferring to focus on tactical rigidity, grinding out marginal results and relying too heavily on two players to score goals.

However, statistics from this year’s campaign go some way to dispelling this myth, with some figures threatening to debunk theories about other Premier League  sides.

To start off, this year’s top scorers in all competitions have NOT been playing at the Emirates or Old Trafford. With 116 goals, English football cannot boast a team with a better record for hitting the net this season than the Reds of Anfield.

' . . . this year’s top scorers in all competitions have NOT been playing at the Emirates or Old Trafford'


The combined talents of Arsene Wenger’s mercurial side have managed to score next best with 111, and Fernando Torres is taking Emmanual Adebayor all the way to the wire for second place in the scoring charts.

Another accusation levelled at Liverpool is that they are too reliant on their primary goalscorers, namely Steven Gerrard and Torres. However, just up the M62 there is a duo that contributes more to their team’s tally than this pairing. Of Manchester United’s 104 goals, 59 have been scored by Cristiano Ronaldo or Carlos Tevez, comprising 56% of the total. Liverpool’s twosome bagged 53 of 116, or 45%. So, it seems that this is another allegation without grounding, at least with regard to their North West neighbours.

Combine this with another stat published by the Liverpool Echo this week and the spread of goals throughout the team becomes clearer. With Ryan Babel’s belter at Stamford Bridge taking his season tally to 10, his name joins five others already in double figures for 2007-08.

Already Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch have struck at least 10 goals apiece this term, making Liverpool the only team in the land with such a sextet of scorers.

Chelsea are next with four members in the 10-or-more club, giving rise to the notion that the Anfield outfit are much less reliant on the finishing abilities of Stevie and Fernando than some might have us believe.

It is true to say that Arsenal play the more attractive football, and Manchester United’s flying winger has brought more plaudits than the endeavours of his Scouse counterparts. But Liverpool’s reputation as a boring side without a semblance of flair is unjustified.

The Reds will complete a second year without a trophy come May, but there can be little doubt that the margin in domestic football is closing. Last season, the points difference between Liverpool and the champions was 21. This year, assuming United and Liverpool win their one remaining game, it will be 11. If the gap continues to close at such a rate, a league title could be on its way to Anfield sooner than we think.