In an unprecedented start to the season, the top three of Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all unbeaten while just five points separate the top five.
As a former FFT staffer noted on Twitter this week, Liverpool have the most points of any team in second at this stage of a Premier League season; Chelsea have the most points of any team in third; Arsenal, the most of any in fourth; Spurs, the most of any in fifth. Heck, even Bournemouth and Watford have the most of any team in sixth and seventh respectively. The strong are getting stronger.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola’s sides have identical records of eight wins and two draws from their opening 10 games, having thrashed out a goalless draw in their October meeting at Anfield. There is not a lot to separate them other than City’s (again, unprecedented) goal difference of +24.
Closing in?
But for any Liverpool supporter starting to ponder/fear/laugh at the thought of their team going the season unbeaten yet still not winning the league, there is hope in comparing with a year ago: Liverpool are 10 points better off, while Manchester City are two points worse off.
Klopp’s side, then, have theoretically closed the gap by 12 points in the opening 10 games – and given that the chasm after 38 games last season was 25, they have effectively gained almost half of that ground after just over a quarter of the season. That should provide plenty of optimism.
Additionally, Liverpool’s goals against column is 12 better off, while their goals for tally is also marginally better (by three) despite a perceived drop-off in their attacking output. The Reds’ goal difference is 15 better than a year ago, when they’d already shipped three against Watford, five to Manchester City and four in a scarring defeat to Tottenham by this point. So far this season, the Reds haven’t conceded more than once in a game.
To maintain such impressive form and numbers won’t be easy, but Klopp is fully aware that he will need to deliver Liverpool’s best ever Premier League points total to end their 29-year wait for the title. The Merseysiders’ current best was in 2008/09, when they achieved 86 points under Rafa Benitez – a total usually good enough to win the league but 14 off City’s astonishing record of 100 points from last season.
Indeed, Liverpool’s team of 1987/88, regarded by many long-serving Kopites as the club’s best ever, achieved 90 points – a record that looks like it will need to be beaten if the current squad are to overhaul Guardiola’s unrelenting side.
Klopp is fully aware of this, and has set about maintaining almost-perfect form so far this campaign.
Firstly, it’s worth noting that Liverpool’s points last season were affected by their run to the Champions League final. Klopp, understandably, rotated heavily in the final league games; as a result, Liverpool lost to Chelsea and drew with Everton, Stoke and West Brom. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume that without European distractions, the Reds would have achieved nearer to or above 80 points.
Marginal gains
What’s become clear is that Klopp and his staff took a forensic approach to reviewing their form last season and worked on a plan to make the so-called ‘marginal gains’. Two things we know that were identified were throw-ins and set-pieces.
“It was clear at the start of pre-season that we want to focus on it because it was not a proper strength of ours,” explained the German recently. His side currently lead the Premier League for goals from set-pieces at this early stage of the campaign.
To address the potential to improve from throw-in situations, a specialist coach was brought in on a part-time basis. Dinosaur pundits like Andy Gray may scoff, but should Liverpool win the league – or indeed, any other trophy – thanks to a goal from a throw-in, then Klopp will be the one laughing.
Depth charge
A key element to maintaining Manchester City-esque form is having an extremely strong squad. That was addressed in the summer, Klopp’s third in charge at Anfield, and the German tactician now has far better depth at his disposal.
Previous Liverpool title bids featured the likes of Iago Aspas, Victor Moses, Nabil El Zhar and David Ngog as supporting cast members from the bench; now Klopp has Xherdan Shaqiri and Daniel Sturridge.
Rotation, rotation, rotation
While Klopp began the season with a very settled side, naming the same XI for the opening three fixtures and making just two changes in the two after that, he has now set about rotating wisely.
Players such as Dejan Lovren and Fabinho were made to wait before making their way back into the side, which should pay off in the long run. Lovren missed the first seven games but has played three full matches since then, when Klopp has rested youngsters Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez instead.
Shaqiri has impressed whenever he’s been on the pitch, and it was surprising not to see him start the home game against Cardiff. Eventually he came off the bench to hit his first goal for the club. Klopp explained though post-match that “we don’t know Shaq long enough [to know] how he recovers”.
“It was also good for Adam [Lallana] to start and he was involved in a lot of things,” Klopp added. And while the 30-year-old now appears to be well behind Shaqiri in terms of quality, Klopp’s use of the former England regular against the league’s two weakest teams, Huddersfield and Cardiff, shows a lot of logic.
Similarly, some supporters were confused by Alberto Moreno starting that game against Cardiff, ignoring that Andy Robertson had played every minute of every game so far and that such a thing can’t happen for the entirety of the season. If Moreno is going to start, it’s probably wise to do so at home against the weakest team in the division.
Klopp started with Sturridge the previous week at Huddersfield, meaning he could bench Roberto Firmino who was returning from international duty with Brazil.
Keep them guessing
There’s also been a mix-up in the formations used, especially against low-block teams that look to sit deep and defend. Klopp switched to 4-2-3-1 for the home games against Southampton and Cardiff; his trademark formation at Borussia Dortmund, and which allows him to get all four of Firmino, Shaqiri, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané in the side.
It also suits Fabinho, who appears to be stronger at breaking up play quickly, therefore maintaining pressure higher up the pitch. The Brazilian is also adept at playing quick, vertical balls into forwards, rather than long, raking passes into the channel that Jordan Henderson prefers.
Substance over style
When Shaqiri was hooked at half-time against Southampton despite being the standout player in an opening 45 minutes where Liverpool led 3-0, it showed a new approach from Klopp, sacrificing goals for control of games. It was a Benitez-like substitution, showing pragmatism and a gameplan that puts substance over style.
That control of games allows his side to conserve energy. No longer do they have to press high upfield constantly; a physically demanding job to do for 90 minutes, let alone in every game over the course of an entire season. There's more to Liverpool now than Klopp's famed press.
The key reason that this approach can be changed is because the Reds now have a defence that won’t collapse under pressure – evidenced by them having conceded just 14 league goals since Virgil van Dijk made his league debut in late January.
Of course, the forwards are still required to work defensively, but it seems that the approach has shifted slightly for a longer-term view than merely winning that game by the maximum number of goals possible.
When asked for a message about the Boston Red Sox’s World Series tilt recently, Klopp said he didn’t understand baseball. He’s too busy plotting how he can get Liverpool’s American owners celebrating on this side of the pond.
