Football is a funny game, especially when it comes to performances under new managers. Liverpool got a great result against Chelsea, winning 3-1 away from home but were brought back down to earth with a 2-1 loss against a brilliant Crystal Palace. The Reds were to face Premier League leaders Manchester City at the Etihad and no one expected the Reds to get a point, let alone all three against City.
Liverpool though were exceptional as they harried, pressed and scored three rather brilliant goals, the pick of which was Roberto Firmino’s first for the Reds. Almost every player did it all for Liverpool, playing like Jurgen Klopp would have expected them to and never let City have a foot in the game. With a surprising but deserving victory against City, can Liverpool push on to the top four in the league?
We have Klopp-off
Jurgen Klopp was brought into the team which was struggling for any direction and boy has he provided that. Liverpool though have had a tough run of fixtures by playing Tottenham, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Stoke City away. With so many tough fixtures out of the way for Klopp, he can actually look to get a good set of results in the next games.
Of course we might have stated something similar when Chelsea were beaten by Liverpool but the loss to Palace put a spanner in the works fortunately for Klopp, he seems to have worked that extra hard with the players and has gotten them drilled with his Gegenpressing ways.
This time around there is more good news with a few players returning from injury. Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge are sure to join Liverpool’s starting XI in the coming days and even the doom and gloom regarding Mamadou Sakho’s injury has been reduced with the defender out till Christmas and not for the entire season as feared.
Another great feature of the win for Liverpool was the link-up play between Coutinho, Lallana and Firmino, Lallana and Firmino were brilliant against City and probably had their best game under Klopp. Christian Benteke also provided a lot of problems to City and had it not been for the form of Joe Hart, Liverpool could and probably should have scored six.
With Dejan Lovren looking like the second coming on Sami Hyypia, or maybe not, he still has a rock-solid game, something that no Liverpool fan could have expected. Liverpool also have a relatively easy set of fixtures in the league.
The Reds have to face Swansea, Newcastle, West Brom, Watford, Leicester and Sunderland in the league before the New Year. Certainly most of the game seem winnable for them; of course these games come in between Europa League matches and League Cup clash with Southampton.
Liverpool are only six points behind Arsenal who sit in the fourth spot place and if they keep playing like they did against City, nothing can actually stop them from getting into the top four and even more, as long as they stay fit and follow what their manager has set out for them.
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