The Reds march on
Sports comments By Tony Matthews
Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Sheffield United at Anfield on New Year’s Day saw them gain a place in soccer history by becoming only the third team to go through a year unbeaten in the Premiership.
Following a 2-1 defeat to subsequent champions Manchester City on January, 3 2019, the Reds are now unbeaten in 37 games made up of 32 wins and five draws for 101 points.
Also Jurgen Klopp became only the third manager to guide a PL team through a 12-month period without losing, the others being Arsene Wenger with Arsenal with a 49 game unbeaten run including the entire 2003-04 season, and Jose Mourinho of Chelsea who was unbeaten in 40 matches between October 2004 and November 2005.
Liverpool's only domestic defeats in 2019 came against Wolves in the FA Cup and when their reserves team lost 5-0 at Aston Villa in a League Cup-tie. However, if you add in a penalty shoot-out, they also lost from the spot in the FA Charity Shield.
Liverpool also suffered two defeats in the Champions League - against Barcelona in the semi-final first leg and against Napoli at this season’s group stage.
Despite that unbeaten Premiership run, Liverpool failed to win a domestic trophy in 2019. Their three successes all came in international tournaments - the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup
Facts behind Liverpool's incredible year….
■ Since their last PL defeat Liverpool have hit 89 goals, conceded 26, kept 16 clean-sheets and averaged 2.73 points a game.
■ The front three strikers of Sadio Mane (25 goals), Mo Salah (19) and Roberto Firmino (10) have scored 54 goals between them as indicated. And no other player has netted more than six times.
■ Liverpool recorded nine straight wins at the end of last season but missed out on the title. Also their total of 97 points was the third highest in PL history and the most achieved by a team finishing runner’s-up.
■ That winning sequence continued into this season with eight more wins, thus stretching their run to 17 straight victories.
■ Unfortunately a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in October
saw them fall one game short of Manchester City's record of 18 consecutive wins.
■ Liverpool are now 13 points clear of second-placed Leicester at the top of the PL, with a game in hand, but Reds’ fans are remaining cautious, remembering that last season they became the only team to go into the New Year seven points clear and failed to win the title.
Tomorrow Liverpool visit Tottenham, aiming to go 38 PL games without defeat.