Liverpool’s slump continued on Monday evening when a 1-2 defeat at Old Trafford condemned them to a third straight game without a win in the Premier League. Although the panic button is yet to be pressed, there are definitely fingers lingering poised after the Reds tasted defeat against a Manchester United side that had been trounced by Brentford just days earlier.
The average football season is kind of like that old fable about the hare and the tortoise – it’s not how you start that’s important, but how you finish. Mind you, even the sluggish tortoise got some momentum up in the end, and Jurgen Klopp will be mildly concerned that his Liverpool side are yet to win a Premier League game in 2022/23 – especially as champions Man City have blitzed their way to a perfect start and six goals into the bargain.
Well, that didn’t pan out as expected.
Liverpool would have been sensing a comfortable victory against Fulham to open their Premier League account last week, but Jurgen Klopp’s men twice had to come from behind to salvage a point.
We’re barely into August and Liverpool already have their first trophy of the season in the cabinet!
Call it a glorified friendly if you want, but the intensity that the Reds and Manchester City showed in the Community Shield game on Saturday tells you everything you need to know about these sides – both were desperate to get one over on the other, as much as getting their hands on the trophy.
Whether it’s a sign of age or a fair enough point, the English football season seems to come round quicker and quicker these days.
That’s no problem for lovers of the beautiful game, of course, and Liverpool fans will be keen to get a look at the new signings that will hopefully guide them to the Premier League and Champions League double this term.
In the end, it was not to be for Liverpool, who had their Premier League title hopes dashed on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign. At one stage the Reds went favourites with the bookies to lift the trophy, with Manchester City 0-2 down against Aston Villa and Liverpool looking likely to beat Wolves despite going an early goal down.
However, it was not meant to be, as the Villains lived up to their name by conceding three goals in the space of five mad minutes.
Liverpool fans have had ample opportunities to sing ‘que sera sera, we’re going to Wembley’ this season, and now the time has come for them to revert to the original lyrics of the Doris Day sung ditty.
‘Que sera sera, whatever will be will be’ is a nice way to sum up the Reds’ pursuit of the Premier League title, because they know that if Manchester City defeat Aston Villa on Sunday then their efforts will be in vain.
While mention of the ‘Q’ word is strictly off limits on Merseyside, Liverpool completed the second leg of what could be a historic quadruple by lifting the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Reds downed the Blues of Chelsea after what was a fairly epic 0-0 stalemate – but, as was the case in the final of the Carabao Cup between these sides earlier in the season, it was Liverpool that showed more poise and precision from the penalty spot.
Even the most optimistic, cup-half-full Liverpool supporters must have been fearing the worst when Douglas Luiz put Aston Villa one-nil up against the Reds after just three minutes on Tuesday. That contest at Villa Park came just hours after Liverpool had dropped points against Tottenham – at a time when they require absolute perfection to haul in Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League table.
Liverpool’s hopes of reeling in Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table were dealt a double blow at the weekend. The Reds looked leggy and lacking in intensity in their 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Saturday – unsurprising given how hectic the schedule has been for Jurgen Klopp’s men of late.