One can only imagine the feelings that went through Jürgen Klopp as he watched, as he probably did, Manchester City’s victory over Newcastle last Saturday. It was a thrill to play perhaps the best game of the season, but there was undoubtedly a sense of deja vu as City triumphed in such impressive, ruthless style.
Many teams have been tormented by City’s state-funded brilliance under Pep Guardiola, but few have felt the pain more than Liverpool, especially during the 2018/19 and 2021/22 campaigns, when they amassed huge points totals – 97 and 92 respectively – but still couldn’t win the title. In the one season they did have the upper hand, 2019-20, Covid struck, making the moment Liverpool finally lifted the trophy a strange and eerie event.
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Still, it was a title victory, ending thirty years of pain, and for Liverpool there is the chance to become champions again. They return from their winter break on Sunday afternoon for a trip to Premier League top Bournemouth with less than half of the campaign remaining. Their eyes are on the prize, but there is a major concern: City are two points behind them in second place, having won their last six games in all competitions and Kevin De Bruyne is back from injury, while Erling Haaland is about to return soon. It all looks very ominous for Klopp and his men.
It doesn’t help Liverpool’s case that they are simply not as good now as they were in previous years when they challenged City for the title. That’s hardly critical, however, by the standards at the time, and it is a credit to all involved that by mid-January they find themselves in a position to win not only the title, but three other trophies, given last season’s woes. . The Klopp era was meant to be over, but instead the German revamped his squad in terms of personnel, hunger and focus, and set the train in motion again. And they were on fire: they won thirteen of their twenty league matches this season and lost only one. That match away at Tottenham.
The key to Liverpool’s success has been the contributions of the four players who form their backbone: Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah. All members of the 2019-2020 title-winning squad have combined top-level experience with top-level performance. Salah was the star with 18 goals and nine assists in 27 games in all competitions. His absence due to Africa Cup of Nations duties is a blow for Liverpool and could be made worse given the hamstring injury he suffered while playing for Egypt against Ghana on Thursday. “It was a shock,” Klopp said the next morning. “He felt it and we all know how rarely Mo leaves, so it’s definitely something.” Liverpool received some good news on this front on Friday evening when the Egyptian Football Association announced that Salah is likely to miss only his country’s next two matches, and the last-16 tie if they get that far.
Alexander-Arnold is also out with a knee injury, although he is expected to return soon and if all goes well, the 25-year-old will remain the creative heartbeat of the side with his sensational passing ability of a hybrid full-time player. position at the back/midfield. Van Dijk, meanwhile, is back to being a central defender, while Alisson continues to do Alisson things. The Brazilian is simply the best goalkeeper in the country, if not the world.
Overall, Liverpool have been very good in both areas. Alongside Van Dijk and Alisson, Ibrahima Konaté, Joe Gomez and 20-year-old Jarell Quansah have all played key roles in the team that has the best defense in the league, as did Joël Matip before the season-ending knee ligament injury he suffered in the competition. the 4-3 win over Fulham last month, while in attack all five forwards have contributed to the team’s success. In just five of Liverpool’s 31 games in all competitions this season, none of Salah, Darwin Núñez, Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz or Cody Gakpo have scored. If someone doesn’t understand you…
No discussion of Liverpool’s attack is complete without a mention of Núñez, who continues to divide opinion like no other player in Liverpool’s history. But what is indisputable is that the Uruguayan impresses with his relentless work rate and smart, unselfish movement – he is fifth in the league for expected goals without penalties and assisted goals: 12.8 – and as the 24-year-old If he can find a way to take more of the opportunities that come his way, it could legitimately be what takes Liverpool to the title.
What could be their downfall is the midfield. The balance has not been good since the failure to properly replace Fabinho in the summer, which led to Alexis Mac Allister playing largely as a number six since his arrival from Brighton in June. It is not the Argentinian’s best position, something that has come to light during the season and could be again in the coming months. Meanwhile, fellow summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai has suffered a dip in form after an excellent start to his Liverpool career, while Ryan Gravenberch has only impressed sporadically since arriving from Bayern Munich in September.
Having said all that, Liverpool’s midfield is undeniably performing with a level of athleticism, aggression, quality and cohesion that was sorely absent last year, and no one has had a greater impact on that than Curtis Jones. The 22-year-old has become a hugely reliable presence on the ball – his success rate for the season stands at 91.6% – while also often being the man to turn on the Liverpool press. To call the Toxteth lad a leader in Klopp’s side would be a bit strong, but he’s getting there.
Wataru Endo has also contributed to Liverpool’s improvement in midfield after initially struggling following his arrival from Stuttgart in August and starting to look like the answer to the sixth riddle, if only because of the Japanese captain’s departure to the Asian Cup to halt that progress. His absence, along with that of Salah, plus injuries to a number of players, really comes at a bad time for Klopp given the games ahead; after facing Bournemouth, they host another in-form side in Chelsea before traveling to fellow title contenders Arsenal. In between there is a Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Fulham, as well as an FA Cup fourth round tie against Norwich. The next two weeks are a busy testing period for Liverpool and could be a decisive factor when it comes to the title, especially given City’s relatively good schedule in the same period.
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On the plus side, Andrew Robertson is set to return after being out since mid-October with a shoulder injury. More broadly, there appears to be more leeway when it comes to dropping points this season thanks to the league’s improved competitiveness. City are on course to finish with 82 points, although their record of long winning streaks in the second half of the season suggests they will ultimately finish with more points.
All Liverpool can do is keep winning their games, especially the one against City at Anfield in early March. They are certainly doing enough at the moment, with Klopp having not only improved his squad but also rotated it to a level that indicates he has acknowledged exhaustion as the reason his side fell short the last time they had a chance of four trophies so deep. in a season. Before this weekend, eight Liverpool players had played more than 1,000 league minutes this season, fewer than any of their title rivals; City (11), Aston Villa (10), Arsenal (10) and Tottenham (10).
The first of these, however, remains the team to beat, and Liverpool know that better than anyone. As for bad omens, all they have to do is remember their matches on the final day of the 2018/19 and 2021/22 seasons. In both cases it was Wolves at home. Liverpool’s last game this season? Wolves at home.