Festive period points would be a holiday bonus (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

Christmas came early for Liverpool fans this week as the bore draw at the Emirates on Monday night guaranteed that the Reds will be looking down on the rest of the Premier League when they open their presents on Christmas morning.

Brendan Rodgers' men have done incredibly well to get to top spot -- they were seven points off the lead with a vastly inferior goal difference following the loss to Hull a few weeks back -- but it's fair to say that the really hard work starts now.

I don't want to kill anybody's buzz, but it's unlikely that Liverpool will retain top spot for too much longer. Indeed, it's quite conceivable that in a few days' time they may not even be in the top four. That's a worst-case scenario, of course, and if that is the situation there should be no cause for panic and it wouldn't suddenly make Liverpool any less of a contender. In fact, it should be taken in exactly the same way as going top of the league -- with a large pinch of salt.

Things are so bunched up at the summit of the table that league position means very little right now. The difference between first and fifth can often depend on what your next fixture is, and up next for Liverpool is the toughest test in English football; a Boxing Day trip to Manchester City. The big-spending Mancunians have a perfect home record and have already destroyed Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United on home soil. Basically, it doesn't get any tougher than a trip to the Etihad Stadium.

After that? Liverpool have to deal with the small matter of trying to inflict a first-ever Stamford Bridge defeat on Jose Mourinho. So all things considered, without wanting to sound too defeatist, the odds would suggest that Liverpool's stay at the top could well be short-lived.

That's not to say they can't get back up there in the weeks and months ahead, though. After all, many thought after losing top spot to Arsenal a couple of months ago that Liverpool would not top the table again this season, yet here they are once again looking down on the rest. It's been that kind of season.

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