Liverpool’s season has almost been summed up in their first three matches. The sublime against Arsenal, the ridiculous against Burnley and the frustrating against Tottenham. Those three games have returned four points and you get the feeling that this inconsistency is going to blight their whole campaign.
In their encounter against Tottenham before the international break they will probably still be asking themselves how they didn’t come away from White Hart Lane with all three points. They had the perfect opportunity to put Tottenham to the sword but failure to do so meant that they allowed one of the nearest rivals to snatch a share of the points.
That game was pitted as two sides with Top 4 aspirations going to head to head and on the evidence of the performance you would have to say that both sides look like they could miss out, if that is to be the case then Jurgen Klopp will arguably need to deliver some form of finish that pays out a European place for the following season.
People may say that Liverpool are still a work in progress but of the side that faced Tottenham there was only Jordan Henderson as the relic from Rodgers era so now we have to start judging Klopp on what he can do with the players at his disposal.
This evening they play host to champions Leicester and they will hope to repeat the efforts of last December when they inflicted one of the very few defeats to Claudio Ranieri’s side. Boxing Day 2015 saw Liverpool bag a slender 1-0 win over The Foxes but with Liverpool’s current defence I would be very surprised if they kept a clean sheet.
Leicester got their revenge in the return fixture earlier in the year, a game that will be remembered for Jamie Vardy’s sensational volley and Leicester will be looking for revenge at Anfield and also will be looking to build on their first win of the season that came before the international break.
There were monsoon conditions at The King Power as Leicester ran out 2-1 winners against Swansea. The scoreline suggests somewhat of a close game but Leicester made it harder than it needed to be with Riyad Mahrez missing a second half penalty. The fact that he has now missed three of his last four efforts from the spot may have Ranieri thinking twice about who may have penalty duties should the opportunity arise at Anfield.
Midweek sees Leciester embark on their inaugural Champions League adventure but they can’t be seen to be thinking about that just yet what with this trip to Merseyside before hand. The target this season for Leicester has been set at 40 points only once that is achieved can they think about the prospect of a second consecutive season in Europe.
They have already amassed 10% of that target but they are going to have to do a lot more between now and May to get to 40 points. But with what they have shown from their first three outings you get the feeling that they will comfortably reach their main objective.
Whether or not they can earn all three points on their travels remains to be seen and a lot will depend as to which Liverpool will turn up. We have seen the three faces of Jurgen Klopp’s side and I guess that’s the beauty of watching his side is that you never know what you are going to get.
That makes it incredibly hard from a prediction point of view but I’m going to sit on the fence and go for a draw. A point that will probably suit Leicester more than Liverpool in all fairness but I reckon we will see an entertaining game with honours even.