Liverpool’s 3-0 loss away to Manchester City probably didn’t scream “on the way up”, but there have been some promising signs from the Reds in recent weeks.
The 5-1 romp away to Eintracht Frankfurt last month showed that Arne Slot’s team are capable of big wins, and though it was more like the solid yet unspectacular victories of last season, the 1-0 victory against Real Madrid was perhaps even more impressive.
However, both games hinted at persistent problems this season. The former was another example of Liverpool going a goal behind (even if the comeback couldn’t have been much more emphatic), and the win over Los Blancos once again showed Mo Salah’s relative ineffectiveness. He made only 17 passes in that match, completing just 64.7%, and had two shots with neither hitting the target.
Too early for title talk?
After the City game, Pep Guardiola said that early November was too early to talk about winning the title, although he did say that teams can lose it at this stage.
Liverpool’s record of six wins and five losses from their opening 11 games has made things difficult, especially with Arsenal looking so strong, but an eight-point gap is hardly insurmountable – the Reds themselves had a 10-point lead overturned by City in 2018/19.
Last November, LFC were in a very different position that the one in which they now find themselves. Arne Slot’s team were eight points clear at the top 12 months ago and Slot said that his team had to keep winning with quality opposition chasing them. Liverpool did just that for much of the season, finishing with only four defeats (two of which came after the title was secured)
Given their difficult start this time around, fans who are looking to bet on Liverpool may be surprised to see the Reds as third favourites. Then again, perhaps not – not many believe Chelsea are capable of a true title challenge, and Manchester United (fifth favourites) are outside bets even for the most optimistic of their fans at 33/1.
Dropping Salah – really?
Some pundits and writers are suggesting that Slot’s loyalty to Salah is getting in the way of results. The Guardian’s Barney Ronay has said that the Egyptian is too often a peripheral figure in games, failing to score in big matches against both Manchester clubs, Newcastle, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
The problem is bigger than the 33-year-old, of course. Ronay acknowledged the lack of physicality in the Liverpool XI compared with last season. When Salah, Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz a;; play, they can lose battles of intensity against more physical teams.
However, all three played against Los Blancos and won – and Xabi Alonso’s side are hardly doing badly this season, topping La Liga after just one loss in 12 games.
Salah scored 29 league goals on the way to the league title last term. In many games he was the decisive player , such as the 2-0 away win against Man City in which he scored and assisted. He hasn’t suddenly become a bad player, but a loss of individual form and the team’s changing line-up and structure means he only has four league goals so far in this campaign.
If the full-backs settle and Alexander Isak starts firing, there will be less of an onus on Liverpool’s number 11 and the table could soon look very different. His four-goal tally is one that most Premier League players would be quite happy with – only six men in the division have more at this stage.
Some games have been about fine margins. Even the defeat against Man City could have gone differently. As reported after the match, LFC contacted the PGMOL over the reasons to disallow Virgil van Dijk’s header which would have levelled the score.
Regardless of any refereeing decisions, though, Liverpool will need to improve if they are to catch Arsenal and City. Worryingly, Slot’s side have only been leading in games for 24% of the campaign so far.