BEVERLY HILLS, February 01, (THEWILL) – After recovering their scoring boots in two English Premier League ties that they won by the same 3-1 goal margin, Liverpool, who had endured five previous league matches without a goal, a 482-minute goalless stretch, it appeared as if they had become resurgent in the nick of time, to come out of the woods and get their title defense back on track.
It appeared even more so because of the varying conditions in which they secured those two 3-1 victories. First, the Reds took all six points available away from Anfield and one was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against a compact Jose Mourinho side sorely missing the clinical finishing of English forward Harry Kane and the other was at David Moyes’s West Ham which just could not force the makeshift Liverpool backline into errors.
These back-to-back wins, even as Jurgen Klopp figured out how to tweak his Injury-plagued defense, gave the Anfield faithful a sense of comfort and the confidence to begin to feel positive about their chances without giving much thought to the goalscoring struggles of their trio of strikers in Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino not being as fluidly efficient as they used to be.
There was a feel-good atmosphere around the club that was not even dampened by the news from the medical department that their imperial centre back hero Virgil van Dijk may not return to their Matchday squad for the rest of the season and when it broke that Joel Matip had joined the ranks of Klopp’s charges sidelined by injuries. The happiness of getting back to impressive winning ways, especially with Salah looking every bit his old clinical self, was bigger than anything the club needed to contend against.
Yet, as it so happens in the Premiership, it took a single match to come crashing back to earth. And, that was exactly what happened on Wednesday night in the premiership tie between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion at the stomping grounds of the Reds themselves. What should have been a walkover for the hosts to prepare them for the tougher and top of the League clash on February 7 against leaders Manchester City turned out to be anything but victory
Many Liverpool faithful will return to the head-scratching reactions that trailed their side’s inability to beat clubs in the relegation fight. They struggled against 19th-placed West Bromwich Albion and managed a draw but lost against Burnley in 17th place and have now lost again to Brighton, who were 18th before the game began.
City’s 2-0 victory over Burnley earlier on in the day meant they are now seven points ahead of Liverpool, who are seeing their hopes of retaining the Premier League title hang by a thread. On the shock 1-0 loss to Brighton hangs another question mark on the very real matter of what really is the problem at Anfield.
With more or less the same calibre of players, Klopp turned the Liverpool home turf to a fortress much like Old Trafford was during the glory years of the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson at the Theatre of Dreams. Klopp’s team broke a long-enduring record of unbeaten home streak that stretched for 68 matches and established the van Dijk controlled backline as a force to reckon with.
None of that means much anymore now with back-to-back losses to lowly, struggling teams at Merseyside and finding it difficult to force a response of any kind to, at the very least, offer scant consolation to their disheartened fan base.
For another game, Klopp’s champions lacked the creativity to find a way past a well-drilled visiting defence. This was as unthinkable last season as it was recently after Liverpool’s last two victories against Spurs and the Hammers. It was clear heading into the transfer window that Klopp had decidedly focussed on shoring up his defence as he kept faith with the havoc he knew his strikers could wreck on their good day. Only those good days are getting fewer and farther between recently.
It seems teams in the lower echelons of the league now have a blueprint for how to thwart Liverpool. With only one shot on target for the entire game, this is not how titles are defended and Klopp must recognise this as well. He and his charges will need to better their game to have any chances against Guardiola’s City to remain in contention at the top.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
