LIVERPOOL’S 6 STEPS TO TITLE GLORY
... but Klopp’s new-look side have a lot to do to bridge gap to City
WE ARE only one game in, but many football fans are already dreaming of a slugfest of a title fight between two heavyweights.
Jurgen Klopp described Liverpool as Rocky Balboa but do they have a puncher’s chance against Manchester City?
Football Editor Ian Ladyman picks the six key areas which must go right for the red corner to triumph:
1 START DEFENDING LIKE CHAMPIONS
On A day of almost total Liverpool dominance at Anfield on Sunday, West Ham’s best chances came within a minute of each other and started with a long punt downfield in the first half from West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna.
Liverpool defender Joe Gomez got stuck underneath it and Marko Arnautovic was able to shoot.
His effort was deflected wide and from the corner Declan Rice planted a free header straight at new goalkeeper Alisson.
Sound familiar? If it doesn’t then you were not paying attention last season. Scoring goals for fun last term, Liverpool remained vulnerable defensively. They did improve after the arrival of Virgil van Dijk in January but a softness remained until the end.
Will things be better this season? We may know more after Monday’s game at Crystal Palace.
2 BACK THE GOALKEEPER
JuRGEn KLOPP has finally swallowed his pride, put aside his faith in Loris Karius and signed a world- class goalkeeper. now he must give Alisson time to settle in the Premier League.
Alisson is clearly a very good keeper if he keeps Manchester City’s excellent Ederson out of the Brazil national team but the English top flight is an unforgiving environment and there are likely to be bumps along the road for the former Roma goalkeeper.
A player who likes to punch rather than catch, Alisson may have to change that habit. He is likely to make the odd mistake but Klopp (right) must stick with him because his alternatives have shown themselves to be not good enough.
3 KEITA AND FABINHO MUST PROVIDE DEPTH
LIVERPOOL have spent money this summer but we must remember that they have lost two very good players this year, Philippe Coutinho last January and Emre Can. They are not like-for-like replacements — who on earth could imitate Coutinho? -— but Liverpool’s two new midfielders will be required to provide upgrades on Jordan Henderson and James Milner.
That may sound hard on two great Liverpool servants — Milner was magnificent on Sunday, for example — but this is the way football works. Footballers can take a team so far and then the next generation must take over. Keita made a good start at the weekend while we are yet to see Fabinho.
It is up to them to seize and keep the first-team shirts and move Liverpool to another level.
4 SALAH MUST PRODUCE THE GOODS AGAIN
THE wonderful Egyptian will not score 44 goals this season as he did last. It just won’t happen. That is the kind of thing that happens only once in a Premier League career and Klopp will know this. However, Salah must drag himself to the well once again if Liverpool are to keep track of a City team who will score goals from every area of the field. Daniel Sturridge got himself a goal on Sunday but Liverpool cannot rely on him to stay fit so the burden will once again fall on Salah, with help from Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. Each of Liverpool’s front three were at the World Cup in the summer and between them they played a lot of games last season.
At some point we can expect that to catch up with them. Klopp must manage them well in order to minimise the risk of burn-out or injury. This may include resting some of them for domestic cup games and even in some lesser Champions League matches. That will not be a popular decision but Liverpool may have to make sacrifices if they are to make up such a huge points deficit on last season’s runaway champions.
5 MAKE ANFIELD COUNT
IT IS a cliche but it remains the case that Anfield is the most intimidating place to play football in England when the locals’ blood is up. All- seat stadiums have robbed some places of atmosphere
but not Anfield and its recent redesign has actually helped in that regard.
There is a reason why Manchester City never win at Anfield and why teams like Roma left Merseyside looking as if they had spent an hourand-a-half in a tumble dryer last season. Liverpool will make mistakes away from home. The chances are that they will make more than City.
The champions still have the edge on them in terms of depth and quality. Last season Liverpool had some great Anfield nights but also failed to beat Burnley, West Brom (twice) and Stoke at home. So there is room for improvement.
6 CITY MUST COME BACK TO THEM
If THE champions breach the 100-point barrier again then they will retain their title. It is worth remembering that City finished 25 points ahead of Liverpool last season and there is no way Klopp’s team will make up that massive margin all on their own.
So City must come back to the field and the best chance of that happening lies in what will be a concerted effort to win the Champions League by the Manchester club.
City have ticked most of their boxes as we approach the 10-year anniversary of their takeover but they haven’t ticked that one. It would help Liverpool if Pep Guardiola and his men had their heads turned a little bit.