That’s another stern test of our title credentials passed. Make no mistake: plenty of teams will flounder at Bramall Lane this season, where the Sheffield United fans are able to whip up a raucous atmosphere and make their opponent’s afternoon work rather difficult.
When you thrust your fringe players and a bunch of kids into the limelight for a tricky away tie in the cup, as a manager you must always fear the worst. But you couldn’t take the smile off Jurgen Klopp’s face as his makeshift Reds side grabbed a deserved 2-0 win at MK Dons in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
It wasn’t a vintage performance by any means, but the 2-1 win at Chelsea summed up once again how far Liverpool have come since the early days of the Jurgen Klopp era. This is a game that we would have drawn at best a few seasons ago, but the players now know how to ‘manage’ matches and show character and resolve when required. And no lack of quality, either.
In football, it’s often fine margins that can make all the difference. Yes, we were poor in Naples in midweek as we succumbed to a 0-2 defeat in our Champions League opener, but it was those key moments that ultimately cost us rather than being overwhelmed and outclassed.
It’s testament to how far Liverpool have come under Jurgen Klopp that at no point did we feel concerned when Newcastle took a shock seventh minute lead on Saturday. Jetro Willems’ strike was a peach for the Magpies, and while there was something of a collective shrug, it was still in little doubt as to who would win this game. Indeed, the bookies still made us favourites despite going early on.
It has been a fortnight since Liverpool demolished Burnley, but it feels like a lifetime ago – such is the nature of the international break! The dust has very much settled on that comfortable win on Lancashire, but we can still reflect on what was perhaps our most complete performance of the season so far – and one that extended our winning streak in the Premier League to thirteen matches.
We had predicted that Liverpool would take care of Arsenal last Saturday – this isn’t after-timing, just simple fact, but even we were surprised by the manner of our victory over the Gunners.
Only two weeks of the Premier League campaign have passed, and yet there are only a pair of sides left with 100% records. One is Liverpool, whose 2-1 victory over Southampton extended our perfect start and the other is Arsenal, who have bested Newcastle and Burnley thus far.
So there you have it: Liverpool FC have their first piece of silverware for the 2019/20 campaign. It came in rather protracted fashion following a penalty shootout against Chelsea, who put up a better fight than most suspected after their debacle at Old Trafford on Sunday.
If you asked any football manager what they would want from the first game of a new season, you can guarantee that a win would rank highest, closely followed in no particular order by a clean sheet, a good performance in which tactical systems are deployed faultlessly, a few goals scored and your players getting through the 90 minutes unscathed.