After narrowly missing out on the English Premier League title last season, few would have expected Liverpool to be struggling in the mid-table halfway through the 2022/23 campaign.
Despite their struggles for consistency in the first 19 games of the campaign, Jürgen Klopp’s side has shown signs of promise they can still salvage something from the season with a top-four finish.
Hangover From Last Season’s Title Push
The 2021/22 Premier League title race was one to remember as Liverpool and Manchester City battled it out until the very last day of the campaign for the trophy. At one stage it looked like the Reds were going to pip City to the post, as they led at Anfield against Wolverhampton Wanderers, while City trailed Aston Villa by two goals. In the final-day theatrics, that the Premier League has a habit of throwing up, City produced a remarkable fightback to claim a 3-2 win over the Villans and broke countless hearts on Merseyside.
Liverpool was in the running for four trophies through the 2021/22 campaign and, while they did get their hands on the EFL Cup and FA Cup, the end-of-season run-in was cruel for Klopp’s side. The heartbreak of missing out on the Premier League title on the final day was soon followed by a narrow 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final. In just three days, the two biggest trophies of the season had just slipped through Liverpool’s hands. Despite a 3-1 win over City in the Community Shield at Wembley at the start of this term, it did not take long for Liverpool to show they could still have been feeling the effects of the previous season’s disappointment.
A Stuttering Start Means A Challenge Ahead
Draws in their opening two games of the Premier League campaign against Fulham and Crystal Palace eluded to the problems Liverpool would face through the first half of the season. Much was made of the sale of forward Sadio Mané to Bayern Munich over the summer, while poor results were also placed at the feet of Klopp, with suggestions his energetic style of play had finally taken its toll on the team after years of success.
There is no doubt the loss of Mané was a blow to Liverpool, who as of 15th February found themselves at +300 in the outright sports betting odds to finish in the top four, as they had relied on the Senegalese star for goals and assists over a number of years. Klopp’s attacking style, which has been referred to as ‘heavy metal football’ has also yielded plenty of success but the demand is high on players to keep up the standards for it to work. So perhaps it was a little of both Mané’s departure and Klopp’s tactics that contributed to Liverpool falling well behind the frontrunners of Arsenal and City at the start of the year.
Signs Of Promise For Season Climax
Liverpool has had a roller-coaster first half of the season, in which at one stage they put together a four-match winning run over November and December, only to go the following four Premier League games without a victory. Bringing the winless run to an end against Everton in the Merseyside derby in mid-February was a performance that looked more like the Liverpool of last season. The Reds ran out 2-0 winners at Anfield with Mohamed Salah and January signing Cody Gakpo getting on the scoresheet. After the win, Klopp said “it felt like us, it looked like us” as his side picked up three valuable points and the bragging rights that went with it against their neighbors.
Liverpool has been able to pick up some big wins this season, which suggests that if they can find that elusive consistency, then a top-four finish is achievable. Beating the likes of Tottenham away and Man City at home were big performances, which show the Reds’ potential. Klopp will be all too aware that his side can’t afford too many more slip-ups if they are to secure one of those coveted top-four places to qualify for the Champions League once again.
The Reds have already shown they can put a run of wins together in the Premier League and they will require more of those if they are to make up ground on the frontrunners heading into the climax of the season.
