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It is fast becoming one of the strangest results in Premier League history.
But not without luck, Liverpool are already forcing people to look back on their 7-2 beating at Villa Park last month with some sense of disbelief.
Of course, at that time there were reasons. Alisson Becker suffered an injury on the eve of the match, Sadio Mane had joined Thiago Alcantara in self-isolation after a positive coronavirus test, Jordan Henderson was not fit enough to start, and as Aston Villa played, fortune favored the hosts with three goals deflected.
However, no one could argue that the Midlanders didn’t deserve to win by a good margin, although they may not be one of those who inflicted Liverpool’s toughest defeat in nearly 60 years.
However, microscopic scrutiny in the wake of such a momentous result suggested that something was seriously wrong with Jurgen Klopp.
After all, it meant they had scored 26 goals in 14 games since claiming the title, having conceded the same amount in their previous 30, and five of them were from the U-23 team in the League Cup win in Villa. Park.
For a team that boasts the best defense in the Premier League in each of the previous two seasons, it was a worrying trend.
Then within 10 minutes of his next game at Everton, Virgil van Dijk suffered a knee injury that will likely keep him out for the season. From bad to worse.
But the way Liverpool has since responded defensively to their beating at Villa Park deserves credit.
The clean sheet in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Leicester City, while only their second in nine top flight games this season, meant the Reds have conceded just five out of eight since losing all seven in Town.
It is made all the more remarkable given the tumult brought on by seemingly endless injuries and selection problems.
Ask any self-respecting manager for the key to a stingy bottom line, and they’ll respond with the same answer: a staunch defense.
But the central defense partnership of Joel Matip and Fabinho that cracked down on Jamie Vardy and company was Liverpool’s sixth different pair in those eight games.
The Reds also didn’t have starting goalkeeper Alisson Becker for the first two games of that streak.
Things have been no less consistent versus the four behind, with six different midfield combinations being used, along with three separate starting formations.
The defense, however, has had to step up with Van Dijk and then two weeks ago Joe Gomez was sidelined.
Interestingly, of the defensive options available to Klopp on Sunday, five of them – Matip, James Milner and local trio Neco Wiliams, Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips – have no transfer fee.
Left-back duo Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas were bought for £ 20 million from each other, while the most expensive player, Fabinho, at £ 39.3 million, is a midfielder by profession.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold, another brought through the ranks at no charge, is the only player to return in the coming weeks, which means Klopp will now have to mix and match accordingly for those nine, with the added complication that Phillips is not eligible for the Champions League.
Indeed, it is asking a lot for Matip, Milner and Fabinho to play three games a week, while Robertson surely needs a break.
Finding the right balance will not be easy, with more occasional defensive absences increasingly likely given the intense schedule before the transfer window opens in January.
While Liverpool pride themselves on defending and pushing from the front, albeit with some subtle and necessary adjustments in recent weeks, the bottom line finally has a responsibility to keep opponents out.
Balancing his resources until a possible reinforcement in the New Year will be key to Klopp making sure his team remains on the hunt for honors and further banishes the memory of that Villa Park horror in the process.
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