It's a common misconception that Liverpool always win their Alt. Table. They never have, because if run properly, which theirs is, it should merge with the real league table as the season finishes.
They definitely use it to make themselves feel better about being behind, especially after seasons like last season where they picked up points in the 'big' games, a number convinced themselves that all was still rosy even after the January collapse.
Where I think the confusion comes from is the separate discussions they had the other year with people posting tables like "if shots that hit the woodwork were goals" and "if the league ran between February and November" which on here often get mixed in with the Alt. Table. Those sorts of criteria are never considered, because as people quite rightly point out, they're nonsense. A number on RAWK do seem to enjoy celebrating the "if we only played the top 6" table and other such shite though.
All of the Alt. Tables I've come across run on the same basic template:
- All teams are separated into groups - roughly Top, Middle and Bottom
- Teams are expected to win all 19 home games, as well as all away games vs the Bottom teams
- Teams are expected to draw all away games vs the Middle teams
- Teams are expected to lose all away games vs the Top teams
The points a team would gain from achieving these results is then set as a Par for winning the league. Matching the expected result in any given week will provide a team with 0 points from Par. Bettering it provides points on par depending on how much better they did (e.g. winning when a draw was expected would provide +2, drawing when a loss was expected +1). Doing worse then results in losing points on par in the same manner.
I ran one last season where I worked out the positions based on an average over 5 seasons. This season I've simply taken last season's standings, with the newly promoted clubs replacing those relegated. I split mine Top 6, Middle, Bottom 6. As the target is to win the league, the Top 6 only accounts for 10 games for each team, as a team would have to be part of the top 6 to win the league. As such, United, as last season's 6th placed finishers, count as a Middle team for all teams outside of last season's Top 6. Likewise, Palace count as a Bottom 6 team for last season's 15th-17th and the newly promoted sides.
It's by no means a perfect model, but in a scenario where Team A is 6 points clear of Team B with 5 games left, the Alt. Table might show Team B as higher because their remaining games are either at home, or away to the bottom sides, while Team A has to visit 3 of the Top 6 during the run-in. Of course it should be taken with a pinch of salt, but for some it provides an interesting way to look the league as the season unfolds.