When Jurgen Klopp, German manager of English Premier League defending champions Liverpool admitted, in his post-match comments just after a heavy 4-1 loss to League leaders Manchester City, that his main focus is on sealing a top-four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League, it was the confession of a man at home with reality.
After shaking off a lethargic commencement to the defense of their EPL trophy this 2020/2021 season, the Reds of Anfield entered a phase of resurgence in a form that was reminiscent of their title-winning triumph the season before. But, just as it appeared they had got their groove back, centre back Virgil van Dijk suffered a season-threatening injury.
From that point on, the niggling injury problems that were eating at the corners of the team’s cohesion and threatening their ability to win matches imploded and looked to bring the entire Anfield organisation, which had held steady until then, collapsing all around Klopp.
That has ultimately culminated in the failure to get a result from their Sunday home fixture against Pep Guardiola’s City. It is so bewildering to compute but the Reds are still without a win at Anfield in 2021. The 4-1 beating was the third in as many matches at their home turf.
Considering that Klopp’s side went through a record-setting 68 matches without a single loss at Anfield, the query around how they can go from that to their third successive league loss remains solidly valid.
Many of those who followed Sunday’s tie between Liverpool and City may point accusing fingers at Brazilian keeper for Liverpool Alisson Becker for two horrendous errors that proved very costly for his side but those who do this miss the fact that in all Becker has been reliable for the team and that the Liverpool’s current form was not something caused by a single game.
That poor form which is directly linked to the injury-plagued defense-line has left the club’s title defence in tatters and hanging by a thread. The 4-1 loss made it the first time, in a run of 19 games, since 2003 that City took a win from Anfield inflicting on the hosts, Liverpool’s joint-heaviest Premier League defeat. It leaves Liverpool in fourth position and 10 points behind leaders City, who still have a game at hand.
The defense of the Reds is a huge headache for Klopp. He has had to repurpose a midfielder Jordan Henderson in a makeshift structure which has neither helped the defense nor solidified the midfield, leaving the team in a situation that can be easily exploited by more tactical sides as happened on Sunday against Guardiola.
Alisson’s double errors did not help either. The Brazil international earned an unwelcomed record as the first Liverpool goalkeeper to make two errors leading directly to a goal in a single game since the unfortunate Loris Karius’ blunders against Real Madrid in the Champions League final in May 2018. That is not good company to be in for a keeper of Alisson’s calibre.
Before Liverpool returns to league action next Saturday, on the road to third-placed Leicester City, Klopp may want to give the players he acquired in a last-ditch, deadline day transfer effort to shore up their backline (Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak) the opportunity to show their mettle while freeing Henderson up to operate where his true strengths are, in the middle of the park.
It may not be the end for Liverpool but it definitely feels unfortunate that a turn of unsavoury results have coincided to squeeze out their title-retaining ambitions and, as Klopp admitted, force them into a top four battle for the rest of the season with City flying high.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
