○One can only imagine the emotions that coursed through Jurgen Klopp, perhaps as he sat and watched Manchester City's victory in Newcastle last Saturday. There was the thrill of watching perhaps the best game of the season, but there was definitely also a sense of déjà vu of seeing City win in such impressive and relentless style.
Many teams have suffered from City's brilliant run under Josep Guardiola and with state funding, but few have felt the pain quite like Liverpool, especially in the 2018-19 season and 2021. -In 22 seasons, they accumulated a huge number of points, 97 points and 92 points, respectively. Still couldn't win the title. Their triumphant 2019-20 season was followed by coronavirus, making the moment Liverpool finally lifted the trophy strange and eerie.
Still, it was a title win, an end to 30 years of suffering, and Liverpool have a chance to become champions again. They return from their winter break and travel to Premier League leaders Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon with less than half the season remaining. Their focus is on prize money, but there are also big concerns lurking – City are second in the table, two points adrift after winning their last six games, with Kevin De Bruyne returning from injury and Erling Haaland in second place. He is planning to return soon. It all looks very ominous for Klopp and his men.
It doesn't help Liverpool's cause that they're not as good now as they were a few years ago when they were battling City for the title. But given the standards set at the time, that's hardly a criticism. Considering last season's disastrous form, it is a credit to everyone involved that as of mid-January they feel they are in a position to win not only the title, but three other trophies. . The Klopp era was supposed to be over, but instead the German revamped the team in terms of talent, hunger and focus and got the train moving again.And they have been like a train – winning 13 of their 20 league games so far this season and losing just one. that Away match against Tottenham.
Key to Liverpool's success was the contribution of four backbone players: Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah. All members of the team that won the title in the 2019-20 season combine top-level experience with top-level performance. Salah has been outstanding in 27 games in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing 9 assists. His absence due to African Cup of Nations duties is a blow for Liverpool and could be made worse considering he sustained a hamstring injury in Egypt's game against Ghana on Thursday. “I was shocked,” Klopp said the next morning. “He felt it and we all know that Mo rarely goes missing, so it's definitely something.” He received some good news on this front, announcing that he is likely to miss the next two games, and if he makes it that far, he is likely to miss the last 16 tie.
Alexander-Arnold is also out with a knee injury but is expected to return soon and if all goes well, the 25-year-old will be the team's creative heartbeat with his sensational passing ability from a hybrid full body. will continue to be. Back/midfield position. Meanwhile, Van Dijk has returned to being a colossus at centre-back, while Alisson continues to do Alisson's job. Simply put, the Brazilian is the best goalkeeper in the country, if not the world.
Broadly speaking, Liverpool are doing really well in both boxes. In addition to Van Dijk and Alisson, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and 20-year-old Jarrell Quansah also play key roles in a side that has one of the best defenses in the league, while Joel Matip is also out for the season with knee ligament damage. It was the same before we met. In last month's 4-3 win against Fulham, all five forwards contributed to the team's success in attack. In fact, of the 31 games Liverpool have played in all competitions this season, there have only been five in which neither Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Luis Dias or Codi Gakpo have scored. . If you don't understand…
No discussion of Liverpool's attack would be complete without mentioning Nunez, who continues to polarize opinion, perhaps as much as any other player in Liverpool's history. But what is indisputable is that the Uruguayan is making an impact with his relentless work rate and smart, unselfish moves. He ranks fifth in the league in expected non-penalty goals and goals assisted at 12.8 points. And if the 24-year-old can find a way to make more of the opportunities that come his way, he could be the right reason to lead Liverpool to the title.
It's the midfield that could destroy them. The failure to adequately replace Fabinho in the summer has disrupted the balance, with Alexis Mac Allister playing primarily as a number six since joining from Brighton in June. This is not the best position for the Argentine, something that became clear during the campaign and could be the case again in the coming months. Meanwhile, fellow summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai has declined after an impressive start to his Liverpool career, while Ryan Grafenwerch joined from Bayern Munich in September. Since then, he has only sporadically made a good impression.
Having said that, there is no doubt that Liverpool's midfield is performing with a level of athleticism, aggression, quality and cohesion that was lacking last year, and that is having an impact. is better than Curtis Jones. The 22-year-old has become an extremely reliable presence on the ball, completing 91.6% of his passes this season, but he is also the man who often instigates Liverpool's press. It might be a bit of a stretch to call the Toxteth boy a leader in Klopp's team, but he's getting there.
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Wataru Endo also contributed to the improvement of Liverpool's midfield, which had initially struggled since joining from Stuttgart in August, but it was during the Asia Cup, when the Japanese captain was the captain of the Japanese national team, that an answer to the number six's conundrum began to emerge. Departure to was only to halt its progress. Salah's absence, along with injuries to a number of players, has come at a really bad time for Klopp considering the games ahead. After facing Bournemouth, they take on another in-form team in Chelsea before heading to fellow title contenders Arsenal. In between, they have the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Fulham and the FA Cup fourth round against Norwich. The next two weeks will be a busy testing period for Liverpool and could be the difference between winning and losing when it comes to the title, especially given City's relatively benign schedule during the same period.
On the positive side, Andrew Robertson, who has been out with a shoulder injury since mid-October, is nearing a return and, more broadly, the league has become more competitive thanks to a drop in points this season. It seems like there is still room for trouble in this regard. City are on track to finish with 82 points, but their long winning streak in the second half of the season suggests they will eventually pick up more points.
All Liverpool can do is keep winning games, especially against City at Anfield in early March. They have certainly achieved enough at the moment, and Klopp has not only improved his side, but also recognized that fatigue was the reason why his team fell short the last time they chased four titles this deep. The team has been rotated to a level that shows that there is. Enter the season. Up to this weekend, eight Liverpool players had played more than 1,000 minutes in the league this season, less than all of their title rivals. City (11), Aston Villa (10), Arsenal (10), Tottenham (10).
But the first of these will still be the team to beat, and Liverpool know that better than anyone. When it comes to foreboding, we only need to remember the final games of the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. In both cases, the home team was Wolves. What will Liverpool's final game of the season be? Wolf at home.
