Everything that could have gone right did so in Liverpool’s 5-0 crushing of Watford, whose hopes of a honeymoon period under new boss Claudio Ranieri were well and truly dented.
What with the international break, it feels almost a lifetime ago since Liverpool and Manchester City’s highly entertaining 2-2 draw at Anfield. It was a game that City fans might have walked away from with a sense of injustice, given that James Milner probably should have been shown a second yellow card when crudely tripping Bernardo Silva in the second period.
It was perfection in Portugal as Liverpool demolished FC Porto to take one giant leap towards the Champions League knockout stage. The Reds produced a five-star performance and were full value for their 5-1 in over the dumbstruck Portuguese side, whose goal came after Liverpool had momentarily gone to sleep – such was their dominance in a game they were only marginal favourites for.
As expected, Brentford proved anything but pushovers in Saturday’s highly entertaining 3-3 draw with Liverpool. Our preview had earmarked the Bees as a side fully deserving of their top-half status in the Premier League, and the quality they showed in attack against the Reds confirms they are in the top-flight to stay.
All things considered, the 3-0 win over Norwich in the EFL Cup on Tuesday couldn’t have gone any better. Fielding a much-changed team, Jurgen Klopp was able to get game time into the legs of his fringe players, and celebrated a handsome margin of victory that was richly deserved at Carrow Road.
On another day, this report from Liverpool’s win over Crystal Palace on Saturday could have been reflecting on a cricket score margin of victory, such was the Reds’ dominance at Anfield. In the end, they had to settle for just the three – due largely to a combination of wasteful finishing and inspired goalkeeping from the Eagles’ Vicenta Guaita.
This very column predicted that Liverpool would win handsomely without conceding at Elland Road on Sunday, but few would have expected the edge-of-the-seat drama that met the Reds’ nail-biting 3-2 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Frustration at an opportunity missed – that would have been Liverpool’s overriding emotion from their 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Yes, the Blues had Reece James sent off in the first period, but this was a game that Liverpool dominated – and created enough chances to score four or five times.
March 11, 2020. That was the last time that a full Anfield crowd witnessed their heroes in action, and it’s been a long old 17 months ever since. But finally, the wait will be over on Saturday lunchtime as Liverpool welcome Burnley to Merseyside.
Here we go again, once more into the breach….
It seems an eternity ago that Liverpool were finishing the 2020/21 Premier League campaign with eight wins from their final ten games, and that was enough to propel the Reds from the doldrums back into the Champions League places.