Revamped Liverpool back for familiar title battle with Manchester City

One can only imagine the feelings that ran through Jürgen Klopp when, as is likely, he sat down and watched Manchester City’s victory at Newcastle last Saturday. There may well have been a thrill at taking in arguably the best game of the season but also, no doubt, a sense of deja vu in seeing City triumph in such impressive, relentless style.

A lot of teams have been tormented by City’s state-funded brilliance under Pep Guardiola but few have felt the pain quite like Liverpool, especially during the 2018-19 and 2021-22 campaigns when they accumulated huge points totals – 97 and 92 respectively – but still could not win the title. In the one season they did prevail, 2019-20, Covid struck, making the moment Liverpool finally got their hands on the trophy an odd and eerie one.

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Still it was a title win, ending 30 years of hurt, and for Liverpool there is the chance to be champions again. They return from their winter break for a trip to Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon top of the Premier League with less than half of the campaign remaining. Their eyes are on the prize, but there lurks a large concern – City sit two points behind them in second having won their past six games in all competitions and have Kevin De Bruyne back from injury with Erling Haaland poised to return soon. It all looks very ominous for Klopp and his men.

It does not help Liverpool’s cause that they are simply not as good now as they were in those previous years they battled City for the title. That is hardly a criticism, however, given the standards set back then, and it is credit to all involved that they find themselves in mid-January not only in a position to win the title but also three other trophies given the wretchedness of last season. The Klopp era was meant to be done but instead the German renewed his squad in regards to personnel, hunger and focus, and set the train in motion all over again. And they have been like a train – winning 13 of their 20 league fixtures so far this season and losing only one, that game away at Tottenham.

Key to Liverpool’s success has been the contributions of the four players who make up their spine: Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah. All members of the 2019-20 title-winning side, they have allied top-level experience with top-level performances. Salah has been the standout, scoring 18 goals and providing nine assists in 27 appearances in all competitions. His absence owing to Africa Cup of Nations duty is a blow for Liverpool and one that could get worse given the hamstring injury he suffered while playing for Egypt against Ghana on Thursday. “It was a shock,” said Klopp the following morning. “He felt it and we all know how rarely Mo goes off, so it’s definitely something.” Liverpool received good news on this front on Friday evening when the Egyptian Football Association announced Salah is only likely to miss his country’s next two games, and the last-16 tie should they progress that far.

Alexander-Arnold is also out with a knee injury, although he is expected to return soon and, all going well, the 25-year-old will continue to be the creative heartbeat of the side with his sensational passing capabilities from a hybrid full-back/midfield position. Van Dijk, meanwhile, is back to being a centre-back colossus while Alisson continues to do Alisson things. Quite simply the Brazilian is the best goalkeeper in the country, if not the world.

In broad terms, Liverpool have been really good in both boxes. Alongside Van Dijk and Alisson, Ibrahima Konaté, Joe Gomez and 20-year-old Jarell Quansah have all played key parts in the team having the best defence in the league, as did Joël Matip before the season-ending knee ligament injury he sustained in the 4-3 victory over Fulham last month, while in attack all five forwards have contributed to the team’s success. Indeed in only five of the 31 games Liverpool have played in all competitions this season has none of Salah, Darwin Núñez, Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz or Cody Gakpo scored. If one doesn’t get you …

No discussion of Liverpool’s attack is complete without a mention of Núñez, who continues to divide opinion like perhaps no other player in Liverpool’s history. But what is without dispute is that the Uruguayan is making an impact with his relentless work rate and clever, unselfish movement – he is fifth in the league for non-penalty expected goals and assisted goals: 12.8 – and if the 24-year-old can find a way of taking more of the chances that come his way it could legitimately be what carries Liverpool to the title.

What could be their undoing is the midfield. The balance has not been right since the failure to properly replace Fabinho in the summer, leading to Alexis Mac Allister largely playing as the No 6 since his arrival from Brighton in June. It is not the Argentinian’s best position, something that has been exposed during the campaign and could be again in the months to come. Meanwhile his fellow summer recruit Dominik Szoboszlai has suffered a dip in form after an excellent start to his Liverpool career, while Ryan Gravenberch has impressed only sporadically since his arrival from Bayern Munich in September.

Saying all that, Liverpool’s midfield is undeniably performing with a level of athleticism, aggression, quality and cohesion that was sorely absent last year, with no one affecting that more than Curtis Jones. The 22-year-old has become a hugely reliable presence on the ball – his pass completion rate for the season stands at 91.6% – while he is also often the man who instigates Liverpool’s press. To call the boy from Toxteth 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 having initially struggled after his arrival from Stuttgart in August and was starting to look like the answer to the No 6 conundrum only for the Japan 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 has come at a bad time for Klopp given the games ahead; after facing Bournemouth, they host another in-form side in Chelsea before travelling to Arsenal, fellow title contenders. In between there is a Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Fulham to navigate, as well as an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Norwich. The next two weeks are a busy, testing period for Liverpool and, in regards to the title, could prove make or break, especially given City’s relatively kind schedule during the same spell.

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On the positive side, Andrew Robertson is close to returning having been out with a shoulder injury since mid-October and, more broadly, there appears to be more wriggle room in regards to dropping points this campaign thanks to the improved competitiveness of the league. City are on pace to finish with 82 points, albeit their record of going on long winning runs in the second half of seasons suggests they will end up with more.

All Liverpool can do is keep winning their games, in particular the one against City at Anfield in early March. They are certainly doing enough right now, with Klopp not only having improved his squad but also rotating it to a level that indicates he has recognised exhaustion as being a reason his side came up short the last time they had a shot at four trophies this deep into a season. Before this weekend, eight Liverpool players had completed 1,000-plus league minutes this campaign, fewer than all of their title rivals; City (11), Aston Villa (10), Arsenal (10) and Tottenham (10).

The first of those remain the team to beat, however, and Liverpool know that better than anyone. In regards to bad omens they only have to remember their final-day fixtures in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. In both cases it was Wolves at home. Liverpool’s final-day fixture this season? Wolves at home.