[ad_1]
Come and adore them, they are the kings of Europe.
Few sounds are more festive than The Kop’s collective with an almost chorus-like December harmony of Liverpool’s version of the famous Adeste Fideles anthem. That’s now joined by a festive edition of Shakin ‘Stevens; Merry Christmas everyone (Everton), for the December winners against their local rivals in recent times.
We won’t get those chants from a crowded Anfield this Christmas, but more importantly we get Liverpool to the top of the tree on the same day. Jürgen Klopp greatly appreciates Liverpool’s start to the season. So much so that this will be the third consecutive Christmas day that his team leads the Premier League.
The Reds boss’s tenure has followed certain trends over the years. His team generally starts off well, sticking out in December before finding a mini-blip in January and February before putting his foot back on the gas from Easter to the end of the season.
However, being on top at Christmas is not silly gold for this Liverpool team. In 2018, 18 were played with 48 points and they would go on to achieve an impressive total of 97. They would eventually be overtaken by then second-place Manchester City with 44 points out of 18 played, with Tottenham in third place with 42 points from 18 games. .
In 2019, Liverpool would once again be their best on Christmas Day in their tireless pre-pandemic quest for their first title in 30 years, with 49 points from 17 played. Leicester was behind them with 39 of 18 games, and City in third place with 38 of 18. Klopp would lead his team to 98 points as we know last season, that despite the obvious hiatus.
And so, in this truncated season, where logic has been replaced by a sense of surrealism, Liverpool are providing a semblance of normalcy. Their current total of 31 out of 14 seems timid compared to previous years, but the obvious caveat to apply is that City are no longer the centurions setting such a high bar and that this season they have failed to the obvious outside situation as well as to an at times horrendous list of injuries at Anfield.
Plus, Liverpool and everyone else are on average four games away from where they should be at this time of year. Which means that if they won their next four against West Brom, Newcastle, Southampton and Manchester United, it would take them to 43 points from 18 games, an average of four below what they have achieved in recent seasons. It remains to be discussed whether 86 points would be enough to win this season’s title.
It is a point to ponder. And more importantly, it’s another year from the top of Liverpool by the time it gets into their Christmas dinner. As a complex and dysfunctional year draws to a close, this has quietly become the norm when it comes to the Premier League table.
[ad_2]
