*THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN ON DECEMBER 1*
Liverpool Football Club have had quite an interesting last few months. After last year’s disappointing 5th place finish, Jurgen Klopp and Co. had a lot of work to do. The mass-exodus of players leaving the club, plus the craziness of the summer transfer window, had a lot of fans panicking and wondering how their beloved Reds would get it right.
Jörg Schmadtke and the rest of the front office answered the call, as three new midfielders were brought in. Alexis Mac Allister (24) arrived from Brighton on an incredible fee of only £35m, Domonik Szoboszlai (23) joined from RB Leipzig from a release clause of £60m & lastly on Deadline Day, the young Dutchman Ryan Gravenberch (21) signed from Bayern Munich for a fee of £34.3m.
These three signings truly fit the Liverpool model of buying young, established talent and developing them from within. However, there was one more midfielder that the club brought in that didn’t fit that model. Wataru Endo (30), a defensive-midfielder from Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, arrived for a fee of £16 million.
After losing some key players like Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson, this team needed a revamp. And they especially needed it in the center of the park.
Today is December 1st, a crucial part in a season for any club. Especially any club in the Premier League, where the fixtures start to pile up big time. In this month alone, Liverpool play a total of eight matches. Six in the league, a Carabao Cup quarter-final and a final Europa League group stage match.
Thankfully, the Reds have clinched the top spot in their Europa League group with a 4-0 win against LASK at home. I’m praying that they use this last match as a chance to play a full lineup of U-23 players as we face Manchester United at Anfield only three days after the match against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
Looking back on the year we’ve had, it’s actually pretty incredible how Jurgen Klopp has been able to rally the troops around this new “Liverpool 2.0”. We’ve only lost one game in the league this year, which was already marred by controversy, and a 3-2 loss to Toulouse in France (which was also kind of shady by VAR).
It’s only December and Liverpool have already played Brighton, Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea away. The Reds are only two points off the top & are progressing well in other competitions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and the Round of 16 of the Europa League.
The team seems to have gotten even closer under the new leadership of captain Virgil van Dijk and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold, and it shows on the pitch.
Liverpool have won all 10 of their games at Anfield in all competitions this season, each by 2+ goals. Becoming the only team to reach that feat since Wolves in 1939.
Being a greedy fan, I want this team to win every single competition. However, I know that realistically that isn’t easily achievable. And with injuries currently sidelining Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcântara, Andy Robertson and Stefan Bajčetić, it’s going to be even harder.
I think the most important games for the rest of this season will be…
- Liverpool v Manchester City (H) March 9th
- Liverpool v Arsenal (H) December 23rd
- Aston Villa v Liverpool (A) May 11th
- Manchester United v Liverpool (A) April 6th
- Arsenal v Liverpool (A) February 3rd *possibly without Salah due to AFCON*
- Liverpool v Tottenham (H) May 4th
Obviously there will be more fixtures to be added on to that list as we progress in the different competitions, but these are the most important to have a chance at winning the league.
Here are the stats so far this year for some of our most important players
- RB Trent Alexander-Arnold: 1 goal & 4 assists
- RW Mohamed Salah: 13 goals & 5 assists
- ST Darwin Núñez: 7 goals & 6 assists
- ST/LW Diogo Jota: 8 goals
- ST Cody Gakpo: 6 goals & 1 assist
- LW Luis Díaz: 5 goals & 1 assist
I don’t know about other Liverpool fans, but I’d sacrifice every other trophy this year to win the league. We’ve lost it by a single point twice already, that pain has left a permanent void in my heart. I need a Premier League trophy celebration in front of a full Anfield crowd. It would make me happy beyond words.
This is a special team that has the potential to make history. It’s arguably our best attack since the start of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, skipper Virgil van Dijk is back to his best and the midfield has been completely revamped. It’s time to go and win the lot!
This is Liverpool. It means more.
Up the f****** Reds!
