LIVERPOOL OUT OF TIME AND OPTIONS
LIVERPOOL are barely clinging to a title challenge as it is, but if they lose to Chelsea on Tuesday they are out of it. After yesterday’s shock defeat to Wolves in the FA Cup, Steven Gerrard said it’s ‘crash helmet time for the players’ going into the game with the Premier League leaders. But the manager will need one too if things get any worse.
Champions League qualification will be his number one target for this season and it is very much within their grasp. Despite the unexpected setbacks in league and cup they are still a good side. If they achieve a top four finish, Klopp will view that as a success. And progress.
But Liverpool are a club built on winning trophies and it is what the fans expect. Brendan Rodgers didn’t win anything as Liverpool manager so it has been a long wait. That is why the EFL and FA Cup are so important, especially as the title challenge falters.
Liverpool are capable of beating Chelsea and they have the best record against other teams in the top six. The problem, which has been their achilles heel for too long now, is that they lose games they should win. Like Swansea, like Southampton, like Wolves. They are still giving away vital points and it looks like costing them again.
Chelsea’s transformation from what we saw last season is incredible. Contrast that with Liverpool who have not won since they beat Manchester City on New Year’s Eve. Antonio Conte has come in, found a system that works for the players and the team and from one to 11 they are the strongest in the Premier League.
David Luiz has been a revelation, Nemanja Matic is back to his best alongside N’Golo Kante. Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso have both found a new lease of life while the front three have been brilliant from day one.
Eden Hazard is also back to the form of two years ago, Willian and Pedro have both started to contribute when called in and Diego Costa is the best striker in the Premier League at the moment. It looks like he wants to stay.
Full marks to Conte for dealing with that situation calmly, never confirming the China link, but dismissing Costa’s absence the previous week as an injury and sticking to the story.
Some even doubted whether he would start at Hull but you get the impression there was never any doubt in the manager’s mind. He knows Chelsea are a better side with a fully-pumped up Diego Costa leading from the front.
Conte gets just about everything right with his team for the Premier League. And if something does go wrong in a game, he seems to find a way to put it right in the next match. He erases the memory and eradicates the mistakes.
Chelsea are not playing particularly well just now but they are grinding out results, as they showed at Hull. They were comfortable when they went one-up and didn’t look like they were going to concede.
That is the major difference between Chelsea and Liverpool. Chelsea don’t concede goals, Liverpool look like they will concede at any minute as Swansea and Southampton proved.
Liverpool do raise their game against the top six and get positive results and performances, but Chelsea can exploit their obvious defensive weaknesses.
For the sake of the Premier League, I do hope Liverpool can win this one and I also hope Chelsea lose a couple to keep the others in the race. Nothing against Chelsea, I’d feel the same whoever was leading at this stage.
It is a really competitive league and, for neutrals like myself, it would be a shame if one side ran away with it now. Chelsea are capable of doing that, especially if they can keep winning so comfortably when they are not fully functioning.
The trouble is you can’t see them losing many and if they do go a goal behind, they have the ammunition to deal with it. Whether Liverpool can sustain the attacking force, I’m not so sure. They can’t keep relying on winning games by scoring two or three, especially when the defeat to Southampton proved they couldn’t even get one in 180 minutes. They certainly can’t rely on that against Chelsea, and be so open and exposed. Defeat will be the nail in the coffin for their title challenge this season but a win keeps other sides’ hopes alive and keeps us neutrals happy.
WAS wonderful to see Shane Long’s winner take Southampton to a Wembley final. It was a great goal, but only his third this season, so hopefully he can go on a run of games and goals now.
He is well-known for going on a little purple patch and, with the Wales games coming up at the end of March, now would be a great time to start.