Arsenal and Chelsea: The Reason Why Liverpool Are Contenders for the League?

There is no denying that Liverpool are in the running for the title, regardless of how slim that chance may be at the moment. They are currently in second place, but could that be down to the failures of other clubs just as much as their own achievements?

Liverpool's form over the course of this season has been patchy to say the least, and despite beating Manchester United at Anfield, as well as a home and away victory over Chelsea this season, they have already drawn 10 games and have dropped points against clubs they should have comfortably beaten.

A major factor for their current league position could be credited to the stuttering form of both Chelsea and Arsenal.

Whilst the Chelsea team has also seen some results go against them—dropping points at Newcastle, Hull, Fulham, West Ham, and Everton—they still sit just two points from Liverpool with the same outside chance to fight for the title.

The Arsenal story so far this season paints a very different picture and, despite a recent run of form, they are still occupying fifth place in the league with a hefty 10-point gap between them and Liverpool, and an even bigger 17 points to make up on Manchester United in first place.

But it may be a little harsh to suggest that the position of Chelsea and Arsenal in the league is solely down to the fault of the respective managers.

Whilst most seasons will witness injuries to some key players, it appears this season has taken its toll on both Chelsea and Arsenal with many first team players missing for long periods of time.

Chelsea

With a Champions League final defeat and also missing out on the Premier League title on the final game of the season, Chelsea had a great platform to build on this campaign, but they have simply not managed to maintain the form of last season.

Chelsea lost Michael Essien to a serious knee injury inside a month and he is still not expected back until mid-March—missing over six months of football.

John Terry has suffered from a recurring back injury on two separate occasions already this season and his defensive abilities have been clearly missed in his absence.

Chelsea winger Joe Cole was ruled out after knee surgery thanks to an injury he sustained against Southend in January, meaning he will miss the rest of the current season.

Ricardo Carvalho has been immense alongside Terry for the last few years, but has missed a large chunk of this year's title race thanks to a niggling knee injury and more recently, a hamstring problem and is expected back at the end of February.

Chelsea's key striker last season, Didier Drogba, has missed a great deal of games at the start of this season thanks to a series of knee injuries and suspensions and has taken time to regain his goal-scoring form.

Another experienced key player for Chelsea is Michael Ballack, who's injury meant he missed the games against Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

After a very bright start from the newly-acquired Deco, the Portuguese play-maker picked up a thigh injury which ruled him out for around a month.

Arsenal

With a strong challenge last season and with a very young squad of players that saw them just four points from first place come May; this season has seen quite the opposite for Arsenal and this can be put down to an incredible array of injured first team players.

After Eduardo suffered a horrific broken leg and a dislocated ankle in February of 2008, it was unlikely that Arsenal would see the great performances he gave at the start of last season anytime soon.

The Croatian international missed over a year of football, including five months of the current campaign.

Probably one of Arsenal's best players, Cesc Fabregas, was injured in December and unfortunately ruled out for the rest of the season. This came just weeks after he was made the first team captain by manager Arsene Wenger.

After playing his way in to a regular place in the first team, Theo Walcott dislocated his shoulder in November and it has been reported he will miss around three months of the current season with an end-of-February return date currently hoped for by the Arsenal manager.

After what appeared to be a routine hamstring tear that Wenger stated would keep Tomas Rosicky out for days and not months; further investigation in to the injury showed that his tendons had become detached from the hamstring and would require extensive surgery.

With several dates already given for his return to full training, the latest news is that he will not be expected to return to action until mid-March of this season—with over a year out of football already under his belt.

An ankle, foot, and more recently a hamstring injury have seen Emmanuel Adebayor miss a couple of months already for Arsenal, resulting in him not playing in some key games in the league and cup competitions and it is reported that he will not be expected back until the start of March.

New signing Mikael Silvestre has already missed a month of football at the start of the season with a thigh muscle strain and the injury resurfaced at the start of January. We will see him miss another two months of football, meaning he will not return until the end of February.

Abou Diaby missed a month of the season with a thigh injury and it resurfaced at the start of the new year, meaning he won't be returning to action until the end of February, missing out again on over a month of football.

Whilst Liverpool have certainly had their injuries to key players like Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, and Martin Skrtel, their injury list has not been anywhere near as extensive as Chelsea and Arsenal, especially in terms of key first team players.

Arsenal in particular have, at times, struggled to field a full squad of players for some games and the quality they have missed has clearly showed in some games against so-called lesser teams.

Despite Liverpool being eight points better off than they were at this point last season and 12 games from the 26 played being spent in first place; this can be attributed to the misfortunes of other title-chasing teams just as much as it can be to Liverpool's hard work and sheer luck in many of their matches.

Regardless of the factors as to why they are in such a good position, it will still be beneficial to the bigger picture and will contribute greatly to their confidence in fighting for the league title in coming seasons.

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