Liverpool FC goalless in seven halves: when the best offense in the league hits

Due to the special circumstances that professional sports are faced with in times of the crown pandemic, clubs around the world have to fight in all sports.

A busy schedule, life in athletes’ bladders that are largely isolated from the outside world, and actual art, sports competition in front of empty ranks – all of this is a notable problem for athletes. The tables of the European football leagues make it clear: nothing is normal at this time.

In Italy Juventus of Turin is behind the music after eight championships in a row, in Spain it is Real Madrid and FC Barcelona that lack the usual sovereignty.

The team that is probably the least similar in England at the moment is Liverpool FC.

World coach Jürgen Klopp’s team has gone four games without a win in the league. Even more worrying: seven halves in a row, the best offense yet in the Premier League (37 hits), failed to score. It is the first time in more than 15 years that Liverpool have failed to score in three consecutive games.

“There is nothing fundamentally different from the usual,” Klopp said after the 0-0 draw against leaders Manchester United. In fact, three world-class forwards, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, are at the fore. Problems with high-profile failures are more likely in the defensive department. Keyword: Virgil van Dijk.

This is another reason why the technician is not very concerned about the persistent drought. “It’s not that we ignore that and hope everything goes well. We are working on it. The only way to score goals is by creating opportunities. You have to be prepared to fail and try again.” . “

However, the LFC hardly created its own scoring chances against ManUnited on Sunday, eventually coming off the field as the lucky one-point winner despite horrific possession stakes.

“With all the things that have been said about the game beforehand, United are on the move and we are weak, I am very happy with this game,” Klopp said afterward. A sale that perfectly reveals current expectations at Anfield Road.

The duel with the record champions relentlessly exposed the Reds’ problem area in front of a worldwide audience, and Red Devils coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer adapted his tactics to perfection.

United left the ball to Liverpool, knowing full well that the reigning champions know what to do with it in the current phase in the final third. You put yourself deep in your own half with everyone and trust completely in the opposite situations.

“The worst thing you can face in football is playing against a team with world-class players and they defend with everything they have. At the bottom of the penalty area and only in the counterattack,” Klopp complained after the match at the BBC. Sports”.

But against Liverpool, this type of approach currently promises the greatest success. The respect is still there, but the fear of the otherwise so precise offensive row of three Firmino, Salah, Mané has given way a bit.

The problem: Kloppo isn’t entirely convinced of his alternatives. Divock Origi only played 13 minutes in four games this season; against Manchester United, Klopp brought him in five minutes before the end of the game. Takumi Minamino also played no role recently, he has been on the bench in the last four league games.

It’s even more bitter that Diogo Jota, the only offensive man Klopp trusts to replace one of the big three on the front row, has been injured for more than a month. It is not yet known with certainty when the Portuguese (nine goals in 17 games in all competitions) will rejoin the team after his knee injury.

But even if that should take weeks, Klopp is sure to leave the mob’s sluggishness behind soon. “I saw my team play today with a clear idea, with great passes, strong counter pressure and the desire to score,” said the coach after the United game, enduring with all the emphasis he had: “We will do it. Play opportunities and we will score.”

Liverpool will go to Burnley FC on Thursday. It can be assumed that coach Sean Dyche will face his team just as defensively as Solskjaer did at the weekend.

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