Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It’s been 26-years since Liverpool last lifted the league championship in England. The Merseyside club dominated the 70s and 80s but have struggled in the Premier League era as others have flourished; most notably their bitter rivals Manchester United.
The feeling around Anfield this season though is that their long wait for their first Premier League title could be coming to an end. Manager Jurgen Klopp has assembled a young and exciting side who have started the campaign well.
The Reds were unable to come away from St Mary’s with anything more than a point on Saturday as they were held to a goalless draw, however, before that trip down south, they occupied the top spot in the league with 14 goals in their previous four games, including a 6-1 win over Hull at Anfield.
Klopp refused to be downbeat after his side’s draw to Southampton. They remain one point off the top of the standings and go into the busy Christmas schedule in December in the hunt for the title along with Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham.
In the Premier League betting, Liverpool are third best in the market at 10/3, the shortest they have been at this stage of the campaign for a long time. Manchester City are the 7/4 favourites to lift the title, while Chelsea can be backed at 5/2 after they picked up their sixth consecutive win and clean sheet on Sunday, away to Middlesbrough.
One of the big advantages Klopp has over some of his rivals this season is that Liverpool have no European football to worry about. The Reds failed to qualify for the Champions League and Europa League last season which is a rarity for a club with Liverpool’s record in European competitions. However, it considerably reduces their schedule and means they don’t have any midweek trips across the continent to contend with.
With 30 goals, Liverpool have scored more than any other team in the Premier League so far this season. What will be encouraging for Klopp is that these goals have been shared among the team.
Chelsea look to Diego Costa for the majority of their contributions, while Sergio Aguero is absolutely key for Manchester City if they are to win silverware this season. In Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, Klopp has three forwards who have already netted six Premier League goals each but don’t play in the number nine role. James Milner and Adam Lallana have also contributed from midfield for Liverpool while Daniel Sturridge is fit once again to give the German options further up the field.
“Klopp” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by cchana
Liverpool went close to winning their maiden Premier League title in 2014 when Brendan Rodgers was in charge of the club but they eventually had to settle for second place behind Manchester City. The Reds were very reliant on Luis Suarez who was the top goalscorer in the league that season. If they are in contention this time around, they have a manager who has won major competitions in Europe therefore they can be confident they have enough on and off the pitch to see the job out.
