The mark of a champion is to win and win well in games that you are supposed to. It was a trait that Liverpool did not have in their ‘nearly’ title runs prior to the 2019/20 success, but this set of players under Jurgen Klopp looks to be a different animal altogether.
Liverpool march into the fifth round of the FA Cup after eventually seeing off a gutsy Cardiff City side on Sunday. The Welsh side were severely depleted by injuries and illness, and yet they dug in to keep the scoreline blank at half-time – despite Liverpool enjoying a mammoth 81% of possession.
While it’s great for the players to put their feet up after a hectic festive schedule, most of us would agree we’ve missed top-flight football something rotten over this past fortnight!
For only the second time in Jurgen Klopp’s managerial reign, Liverpool are through to a domestic cup final. The 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final on Thursday evening ended a six-year weight for a day out at Wembley, and Chelsea now stand in the way of Klopp and his team getting their hands on another trophy.
Any doubts about the goalscoring prowess of Liverpool without Mo Salah and Sadio Mane were assuaged somewhat by Sunday’s comfortable 3-0 victory over Brentford. It was somehow fitting that two of the goals were scored by those drafted in to fill the void left behind by the African pair – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, starting in Salah’s right wing berth, and Takumi Minamino doing the damage for the Reds against an obstinate Brentford side.
Liverpool’s attacking woes in the absence of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane revealed themselves on Thursday night as they struggled to find a way past ten-man Arsenal in the EFL Cup semi-final. The Gunners were reduced to nine outfield players when Granit Xhaka saw red for his professional foul on Diogo Jota, and while Liverpool dominated possession thereafter they were unable to make the breakthrough.
After a torrid start, Jurgen Klopp would have looked on with delight as his youthful Liverpool side rallied to beat Shrewsbury Town 4-1 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday. He handed starts to Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Tyler Morton and Kaide Gordon, while Elijah Dixon-Bonner and Max Woltman made their first senior appearances for the club.
The pandemic woes deepens at Liverpool. At least three new cases, including Alisson, Joel Matip and Bobby Firmino, plus staff also in isolation has left the club with no choice but to close their training ground in order to tackle the situation.