There was an element of good fortune about it, but Liverpool finally claimed their first away win in the Premier League this season with victory over Tottenham on Sunday. Spurs twice hit the woodwork and missed a couple of other glorious chances, but Jurgen Klopp won’t mind as his side head into the World Cup break in better heart.
This very column had written off Liverpool’s chances against Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday, and so it was only natural that the Reds would turn up and deliver one of their finest performances in some time to cap a much-needed victory.
And so it goes on. Liverpool’s lengthy wait to string quality, winning performances together goes on after they were downed 1-2 by Leeds United on Saturday evening.
It was somehow fitting, given how their season has gone so far, that in a game Liverpool only really needed to draw on Wednesday they produced an exemplary performance.
Any hopes Liverpool fans had that their side had turned a corner following the enthralling victory over Manchester City were dashed in emphatic fashion by Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Tricky Trees were roared on by a vociferous home ground, and the old vulnerabilities that have plagued the Reds this term resurfaced once more against an opponent that was bang up for the fight.
Liverpool shrugged off their mediocre season to date with a thrilling 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday. Anfield was the scene for an epic battle, and this was English football at its best as skill, heart and aggression were combined in front of a raucous capacity crowd.
Talk about a game of two halves! Liverpool’s woes looked set to be going from bad to worse when they fell behind to a Scott Arfield opener at a predictably raucous Ibrox on Wednesday evening.
It’s somewhat indicative of Liverpool’s fall from grace that they went into Sunday’s game against Arsenal as the underdog. And that position was justified by a 2-3 defeat in which the Reds were often second best.
The game between Liverpool and Rangers on Tuesday evening was a moment of history – it was the first time that these storied clubs had ever met in a competitive game. And the contest had another slice of rarity about it: this was one of the first times in seven years at the helm that Jurgen Klopp had deviated from his trusted 4-3-3 formation.
Liverpool’s increasingly fragile confidence was clear for all to see as they went 0-2 down after 17 minutes against weekend opponents Brighton.
You could attribute some of that slow start to a 28-day gap since their last Premier League outing, but the Reds’ previously formidable backline has looked increasingly easy to cut through this term, and Leandro Trossard took full advantage in the early going at Anfield.