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Oh yeah, that feeling is back. It actually only dissipated for a couple of months, really.
The feeling that every game Liverpool plays in the Premier League is life or death, all or nothing, because the title is there to be won. Again. That feeling dominated the entirety of the 2018/19 season until the final day against the Wolves at Anfield.
It was there for all of last season until that glorious June night when finally, after an agonizing three-month period of unpredictable uncertainty, the promised land was finally reached.
There was a strange and somewhat unnerving feeling around the last seven games of last season with nothing but points records up for grabs. For the first time in two years, Liverpool played football matches that did not For real matter, which felt like a chilling contrast to the norm.
But here we are, approaching the third league game of the new campaign, and the ramifications are already being felt. huge. It was already the case when Liverpool played Leeds United and Chelsea, of course, but in light of the events this weekend, that feeling has risen to a whole new level of intensity.
On Saturday, Chelsea were completely dismantled by West Bromwich Albion before saving a point in stoppage time. Before the return, they looked disheveled, disjointed, and extremely dysfunctional. This is a team that many were eager to talk like dark horses for the title just weeks ago after their series of dazzling summer acquisitions.
Having been well beaten by Crystal Palace at Old Trafford last weekend, Manchester United were also beaten by Brighton & Hove Albion, who could easily have scored five or six had they not set a new all-time record for hit the wood. United somehow got the three points in the 100th minute (with just five minutes added) courtesy of a penalty in the VAR review then the whistle had been blown full-time, but still, the big cracks were there for all to see.
Then yesterday Manchester City were humiliated 5-2 by a Brendan Rodgers-inspired Leicester City masterclass as their continued defensive shortcomings were ruthlessly exploited (despite Rodri’s insistence that Leicester “did not nothing “and that” football has been unfair to us “). Splashing £ 65 million in a new central might It helps, but the problems Pep Guardiola faces are more systematic and entrenched than anything a single player can solve.
It is possible that City, Chelsea and United will bounce back and rack up impressive winning streaks in the coming weeks and months, it is worth saying, because they still have great quality in their respective teams. Factors like the interruption of preseason preparations, injuries and the need to integrate new signings are at stake here.
Yet even at this extremely early stage in the campaign, stability and continuity feel enormously valuable, and Liverpool have both in abundance. While it’s true that last season’s point count doesn’t count for anything in absolute terms, nearly all of the players who made it are still here, plus three new additions. And the same world-class manager.
Liverpool have not been perfect in the opening games, far from it, but they have been so hungry, motivated and focused than ever to move on and achieve even more success. They seem energized by the challenge of attacking another title, not burdened by it.
Tonight, then, feels like another great opportunity to leave a marker. At the risk of hyperbole, it almost looks like we’re getting closer to the March-April showdown, which is ridiculous to say in a sense (there are still 35 more games to play after tonight), but it’s because the stakes are high and the such a tempting opportunity.
Victory against Arsenal is unlikely to be straightforward when you take recent meetings into account, but if they manage to do so, it would symbolize much more than just three other points at this juncture – it would be a booming statement that Liverpool is still the relentless. monster that started and continued as a steam train last season, and now they’re ready to do it again.
What I read on Liverpool.com
The new handball rule turned into numerous farce scenes over the weekend, which Dan Morgan wrote about here.
Also, thanks for a joint article I co-wrote with Ollie Connolly on Liverpool’s midfield options and how they could improve in the weeks and months to come.
While you’re here …
Keep an eye out for our Facebook page tonight, where we will host a pre-game live stream once the team news is out, and also later after the game.
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