Liverpool will “go again”
Yes, it’s not even February, there’s a long, long way to go and you couldn’t possibly have a more terrifying outfit in Pep Guardiola’s Man City chasing over your shoulder but Liverpool look in good shape to win the Premier League.
They’re five points clear, look formidable, are cutting teams open for kicks and what’s most impressive is that the 1-1 draw on Wednesday night with Leicester was the first time Liverpool dropped points against anyone outside the top six this season.
With 14 games remaining though, it could go down right to the wire and the failure to open the gap on Man City to seven points during the midweek fixtures is a chance that Anfield will rue, but Liverpool will be confident that they will drop fewer points than Pep’s side in the run-in.
And while rivals fans revelled in the idea that Jurgen Klopp made excuses when he talked about the snow on the pitch, it was something that really affected the match and particularly Liverpool’s style of play.
“We knew before that it would be really difficult and then it started snowing it made it not easy,” he said.
“The ball didn’t roll really and, if you have the ball pretty much for 70-80 per cent of the time, then it makes life really uncomfortable.
“To break down a side who defends like Leicester did tonight, you have to accelerate, you have to speed up in decisive areas and sometimes we didn’t do it – I don’t know why – and sometimes we couldn’t because it’s difficult, you have to control the ball, you have to pass through a compact formation.
“We have to accept the result, no problem. We don’t think we can run through the league and beat everybody. We are ready for hard work.”
Liverpool’s ground staff drew criticism for clearing the snow at half-time but only doing so in the penalty area in which they would be attacking, but in truth this is something many teams have done over the years.
But, with the way that Klopp has his team pushing up on defenders and winning the ball in high areas, with the cut-throat and intense football they like to play to cut straight through teams, they operate better when they can actually play football and that was tougher to do with the snow underfoot.
Liverpool’s next fixtures:
- West Ham (a) – Monday
- Bournemouth (h) – Feb 9
- Bayern (h) – Feb 19
- Man United (a) – Feb 24
- Watford (h) – Feb 27
- Everton (a) – Mar 2
The next month will go a long way in shaping Liverpool’s season but, although trips to United and Everton look daunting, they remain games that Klopp’s side are more than capable of winning.
“Everything is fine. I don’t think anybody was injured which helps us a lot and now we have a few days to prepare for West Ham and we go again,” said Steven Gerrard, sorry, Klopp.
“Then Bournemouth and we go again.
“That’s what we do. Not counting points and hoping for gaps between us and other teams.”
