A bad night for Liverpool. Now for a nail-biter
Liverpool’s recent run of results is not something the football club has been used to over the past two or three years.
Premier League, European and World champions in recent times, extremely high standards have been set, but the team hasn’t managed to hit those heights in the past few weeks.
Football, however, can change very quickly, and the fact Jurgen Klopp and the squad still sit in the top four is encouraging.
There is no doubt injuries are part and parcel of the game, and every squad has to cope at some stage with losing key players.
Still, for Liverpool to lose three men in the one position is incredibly unlucky.
Jurgen has had to shuffle the pack, and that has led to Jordan Henderson and Fabinho having to slot in at centre-back.
So you are losing them from their natural positions in the middle of the park.
But there is no time to feel sorry for yourself, and one thing Liverpool will not do is look for sympathy.
They will look to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible and it starts this afternoon against Manchester United in a tasty FA Cup tie. It should be an absolute cracker.
Liverpool go into this game on the back of a home defeat to Burnley, their first loss in the Premier League at Anfield in 68 games.
Sean Dyche and his players deserve enormous credit. They were organised and disciplined.
However, had Divock Origi’s effort gone in instead of hitting the crossbar, then you would have been looking at an entirely different game.
There’s no time to dwell on that. It’s always about winning games.
Liverpool won the League last season for the first time in 30 years, and they will do everything possible to retain it.
An interesting contest lies in wait in the coming months, with ourselves, Manchester City, Leicester City and Manchester United in the mix.
It’s going to be a nail-biter.