Quite frankly, Liverpool have to take more points from the games against City than City take. The Reds have only beat the Citizens once in the last eight league games. The last time Liverpool beat City in the league was in 2019/20… when they went on to win the title. Last season, results in the head to head league encounters both ended 2-2. The finest of margins – such as an absolutely blatant handball decision – can decide a title now such is the near-perfect levels these two teams have raised the bar to.
Two of the last four league campaigns have seen City win the title by a point over Klopp’s side.
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IN THE MAG Season Preview special! 140 teams rated and slated in England and Scotland – PLUS Joelinton, Champ Man, Nottingham Forest and more A five-point swing in the title race is extremely decisive.
In the ‘big six’ head-to-heads, Liverpool took 15 points compared to Man City’s 20. Turning just one of those into a win would’ve seen the title land at Anfield. In games against Man City, Tottenham and Chelsea last season, Liverpool drew all six. Tyler Morton was given a debut in midfield alongside James Milner at a time when most teams were having games postponed for such absences. Seven times in Premier League history has a team lost fewer games than the title winners – and three of them were Liverpool.Įspecially disappointing draws for the Reds last season were against Brentford and Brighton early on, shipping five goals to two bottom-half teams and squandering a 2-0 lead at home to the Seagulls. Another that stings is the 2-2 away to Tottenham in December which Liverpool played despite missing Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Thiago due to covid isolation. Adding to similar tales in 2018/19 (one defeat vs four for City) and 2008/09 (two defeats vs four for champions Man United).
Draws cost titles – Liverpool should know it.Ģ021/22 saw Liverpool suffer just two defeats - one fewer than the champions. Turn draws into winsįorgive us if you’ve heard this one before, but four draws achieves fewer points than two wins and two defeats. He gets into the box more often, in a way that Divock Origi did as a substitute on occasion to change games. He’s far more likely to be playing on the last defender than Liverpool’s other centre-forward options, and gives more physical and aerial presence. Klopp’s response to this could well be the addition of Darwin Nunez – a more traditional No.9 who hints at a change of point in attack for the Reds. Being unpredictable in attack is a key fundamental for any football team. Having a clear identity is good for many reasons, but not at the extent of becoming predictable to play against. We knew what strategy to take – don’t give them space behind the defence to run into.” “They have a very clear identity and we could prepare the way that we did. “I think it helped that Liverpool were easier to decipher than the others,” he said. Be less predictableĬarlo Ancelotti’s words after the Champions League final are certainly worth considering, with the Real Madrid boss saying he knew how Liverpool would play. With the firepower of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota, who hit 86 goals between them last season, plus January arrival Luis Diaz, Liverpool should be able to find a way to win finals before they went to extra-time and penalties – as the two domestic ones did against Chelsea.ĭoes this point to a problem with creativity in midfield against well-drilled, elite defences like Chelsea and Real Madrid? The addition of Fabio Carvalho, a goalscoring midfielder, could aid in this area. It’s an obvious one when looking at the basic facts of the season Liverpool played in three major cup finals and didn’t score a single goal in 300 minutes.
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