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LIVERPOOL, England – So far Liverpool’s “nightmare” begins the season. Three games and the reigning champions have beaten him so far by beating last season’s championship winners (Leeds United), Europe’s biggest summer spenders (Chelsea) and a resurgent Arsenal (3-1 on Monday at Anfield. ) than just last month. beat Jurgen Klopp’s team at Wembley to win the Community Shield.
Thanks to the first setbacks of others this season, it already seems that the only team able to prevent Liverpool from winning another title this season will be Liverpool itself.
While all of their most likely rivals have already been wrong and lost points (Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have a Premier League defeat in their column less than a month into the campaign), Liverpool have racked up the maximum points in his three games so far. and they are only in second position right now because Leicester has a better goal difference after also winning their first three matches. And better not to forget Everton, who have also won three of three since the start of the season.
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Leicester fans will point to their remarkable 2015-16 title win if anyone dismisses their initial hopes for another leading season. Evertonians, meanwhile, will believe the clock is turning back to the 1980s, when they twice dethroned their neighbor Liverpool to become champions, after watching Carlo Ancelotti lead his team to a flawless start thus far.
But while Everton and Liverpool could contest the first Merseyside derby of this season next month with 100% records if they win again at the weekend, no one should be fooled into thinking that Everton or Leicester will push Liverpool all the way this season. The stark truth for all teams harboring title ambitions this season, realistic or not, is that Liverpool still look a class apart from the rest.
City’s problems were exposed by Leicester in Sunday’s 5-2 loss: Pep Guardiola hopes new signing Ruben Dias will fill the huge gap in defense created by Vincent Kompany’s departure more than 12 months ago, while the United still looks like a moving car. round in circles under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Chelsea are a work in progress with Frank Lampard, a young manager with an inexperienced but exciting squad, while Arsenal are still at the beginning of their rebuilding program with Mikel Arteta. Tottenham, meanwhile, have been on the decline since before José Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last November and no one has considered Spurs serious title contenders anyway, so they won’t take the Premier League trophy. from Anfield in the short term.
As for the prospects for Leicester and Everton, time will tell, but even now, less than a month into the 2020-21 season, it is difficult to see who can realistically beat Liverpool for the title.
Arsenal came to Anfield with a 100% record and a high level of confidence after winning the FA Cup and Community Shield. Arteta’s team even had the audacity to score first when Alexandre Lacazette took advantage of an Andrew Robertson error in the 26th minute to make it 1-0.
However, within two minutes, Sadio Mane had tied for Liverpool. Six minutes later, Robertson corrected his earlier mistake by making it 2-1 with a good cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool’s response exemplified why they are the best in England by some distance at the moment.
Despite all their recent success, no team works harder outside of possession than Liverpool and they chased after Arsenal, pushed high and changed gears after falling behind. When winners get used to success, they sometimes allow complacency to mitigate their advantage, but that has yet to hurt Liverpool.
The only hope for the rest is that, sometime this season, they allow their dominance to diminish in intensity and give their rivals a chance to capitalize. Perhaps his defense also offers a glimmer of hope, with Lacazette scoring on an error and then squandering two clear chances after beating the offside trap in the second half before goalkeeper Alisson Becker denied him.
It was those lapses in concentration that led former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, who works as a television pundit, to describe Liverpool as “sloppy.” Keane was right, but Klopp wasn’t happy with his depiction of Liverpool’s performance.
“Did I hear right? Mr. Keane said we had a sloppy performance, did he say that?” Klopp said. “Did you say it was sloppy? I want to hear it, it’s an amazing description of this game.”
In the 4-3 opening-day win against Leeds and here against Arsenal, Liverpool’s four defenders were unconvincing, but each time Klopp’s forwards delivered to secure the win, as they have many times before. . Liverpool’s defense will improve, so it doesn’t bode well for the rest, and their attacking machine has been boosted by the signing of Wolves forward Diogo Jota, who marked his Anfield debut with a classy goal in the minute. 87 to put 3-1.
That this victory was achieved without Thiago Thiago, who will be out until after the international break with an unspecified fitness issue, making Liverpool’s strength look ominous, unless complacency and poor defense trip them up. But with Klopp in charge, it’s hard to imagine either one being a problem for too long.
