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The Reds from Merseyside have always been a force to reckon with. The 5-time European Champions have 41 major titles, including 18 English Championship titles. The first came in the 1900-01 campaign, but what's concerning is that the last came in the 1989-90 season when club legend Kenny Dalglish was in charge. It has been 28 years since they last won the title. Although the Reds have not been consistent with their form over the last decade or so, they seem to have found the perfect balance in their team to push for the titles available to them. While some would say that it's nothing new for the Liverpool fans to say that this is their year, it is hard to not acknowledge the fact that they have looked like a champion team this season. As things stand, Liverpool lead the race by 4 points with 60 points after 23 games played. In these 23 games, the Reds have conceded just 13 goals, that is 7 less than the next in line. As their defence has improved, the offence has been less ruthless this season but has done the job required consistently. With Salah leading the scoring charts for the Reds again this season with 16 goals in the league and Mane and Firmino closing in on him with 9 goals each in the league, things look great for the team ahead of the business end of the season.
Klopp and The Kop
With due respect to all other clubs and fans, it is hard to argue that Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund have two of the best sets of fans in Europe, if not the World. Another thing that's common between the two, besides their love and support for respective clubs, is the current Liverpool and former Borussia Dortmund manager, Jurgen Klopp. The always energetic German is well known for his gung-ho press. Last season's Liverpool and his Borussia Dortmund side were known to press and press until they retrieve the ball back. After going a complete season without a trophy and having recruited players according to his wishlist, the German seems to have decided to go with a more systematic approach. He is aware that with his team out of the league cups, he only has 2 titles available for him, and to compete for both of them he will have to have is players in the best of their shape and not be plagued by injuries. He has used his players very intelligently and has rotated his playing XI whilst utilising their versatility and has played several sets of players in various situations. With his tactical knowledge and experience, combined with the stars and young guns that he has at his disposal, it will be hard to keep Liverpool out of the title race since they already lead the table by 4 points.
The Defence
Liverpool have, in their ranks, the most expensive defender of all time in Virgil Van Dijk. The 79 million Euros signing from Southampton has been their defensive rock for most of his first full season for them. He leads the team in passes, clearances, interceptions and aerial battles won. He is one of the reasons why the team that had 17 clean sheets in the whole of Premier League last season and has 13 clean sheets with more than half of the games to go.
Another record breaker in this Liverpool side is Alisson Becker who was signed for a then world record fee of 62.5 million euros. Despite a couple of errors, Alisson has been a fantastic upgrade for the team. After conceding two goals in the Champions League final due to goalkeeping errors, Liverpool made it a priority to sign a new world-class goalkeeper and Alisson has been nothing short of a world-class goalkeeper all season. His goal-line save against Everton in the dying moments from point-blank range was invaluable as the Reds went on to win the game 1-0 after scoring in injury time. For a player to adjust this quickly in the PL, even a Goalkeeper, and lead the charts in clean sheets just shows how good this guy is.
While these record signings have done their job, the homegrown talent [Trent Alexander-Arnold] and the fan favourite [Andy Robertson] have also done their job well this season. Alexander Arnold is the young right back that has found his way into the team from the streets of Liverpool and has been dependable for a couple of seasons now. Andrew Robertson's desire to get back the ball after losing and to keep running with and without the ball throughout the game at the same pace is something that has made him the fan favourite. Robertson leads the chart for most tackles made by any Red this season with 52 tackles against his name, 21 more than the next. Although the defence has looked stronger than ever, yet they still concede, which is why it is rumoured that Klopp is looking for a defensive partner for VVD. Whether or not Liverpool go after a central defender in the winter transfer market, they definitely look defensively strong enough to contend for the title this season and maybe even win it.
The Midfield
As glorious as Liverpool's history is, one of the most decorated players in their history is Steven Gerrard. He was the leader of the Liverpool team that pulled off one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of the Champions League in the finals of the 2004-05 season, otherwise known as 'The Miracle of Istanbul'. Gerrard's performance in that game was very special and it was not just a 'one-off' performance, he was very influential every time he played. This was a benchmark for all the upcoming players, especially midfielders.
The leadership skills that were seen in Gerrard in his days, can now be seen in Jordan Henderson, the club captain. He has been a complete warrior in every game that he has played for the team this season and has looked to be in great touch. While Klopp has tried different sets of players for different games in his midfield trio or sometimes the five-man midfield that he goes with, it will be safe to say that almost all of his combinations have bared the fruit for him. With the likes of Fabinho and Keita signing for the club, Klopp has both the potential and the experience, in the likes of Milner and Wijnaldum, and also the versatility to keep playing with different combinations throughout the campaign whilst having the option to stick to one combination when it comes to the toughest test.
One of the most important members of these different combinations is Xherdan Shaqiri. The Swiss international has not been a regular starter for Klopp in his first season, but, whenever called upon, he has served his team and coach very well. No one will forget, at least for the near future, the brace he scored after coming on from the bench and winning the game for his team against their arch-enemies, Manchester United. Shaqiri can play as the play-maker in the midfield trio or go out in the wings, send in crosses and cut inside to score some good goals, which he is very much capable of.
The Attack
In most of his games this season, Klopp has gone with a 4-2-3-1 where Salah starts on the flank but shifts to the No.9 role and Firmino drops in to play as the No.10. This shift sees the right-side midfielder fill in on the flank and creates more space for Alexander Arnold to show his skill of crossing the ball into the box with accuracy.
This has been possible due to the flexibility of Salah and Firmino to take different responsibilities. When we add Mane to this mix, it becomes more of a problem for the defence of the opposition. With Salah and Mane switching flanks and Salah and Firmino switching positions while keeping the same chemistry, it becomes a tough task for the defenders to defend. In their only loss of the Premier League campaign, yet, to Manchester City, their fluid attacking was hindered only by the excellence of Bernardo Silva who gave in an extra shift and recorded the most area covered by any player this season.
Add to this attacking trio, a rejuvenated Daniel Sturridge, and you have the recipe for a title-winning attack force. After starting this season with goals coming less frequently and the team being more astute defensively, we have seen certain glimpses of the ruthless Liverpool team that we were used to seeing last season. While they begin to catch up with the number of goals they scored last season, they will definitely surpass their defensive records of last season, which, in my opinion, is another way of saying that this just might be the year when the lift the famous English title that has eluded them for almost 3 decades.
