With a five-point lead over a faltering Manchester City, and a nine-point advantage over the rest of the chasing pack, Liverpool have a 60.3 per cent chance of winning the Premier League, according to Opta. Arne Slot’s team, who visit bottom-of-the-table Southampton on Sunday, have 28 points from the opening 11 games. Liverpool have bettered that only once in the past 34 seasons, when last winning the Premier League in 2019-20. We assess how the current Liverpool squad compares with Jürgen Klopp’s champions.
Goalkeeper
Little has changed in this department. Even the value of an able deputy remains the same. Alisson is still Liverpool’s undisputed first choice and one of the finest goalkeepers in the world. The problem for Slot, and possibly Alisson in the long-term with Giorgi Mamardashvili arriving from Valencia next summer, are the number of games the 32-year-old has missed through injury.
Alisson was sidelined for 10 matches last season and has been absent since October 5th with a hamstring problem, his second of the campaign. He stepped up his recovery during the international break, training with the under-21s. But Alisson also missed a significant chunk of the title-winning season after tearing a calf muscle on the opening day against Norwich. His replacement, Adrián, performed well in the Premier League during the Brazilian’s three-month absence but mistakes later cost Liverpool in the Champions League and FA Cup.
Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher is a more convincing stand-in who would be a first choice at many other Premier League clubs and he improves the strength of Liverpool’s goalkeeping options. Vitezslav Jaros, the 23-year-old Czech who has made two appearances this season, is also highly regarded at the club. Alisson was outstanding on his return from injury in 2019-20. For all of the calm assurance that Kelleher provides, Liverpool’s title challenge would undoubtedly benefit from a repeat.
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Defence
It is testament to Klopp’s faith in young talent, the dedication required to sustain world-class levels and the character within the Liverpool squad that three of the defensive pillars from the title-winning season remain exactly that five seasons on.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been shaping games from right back for so long it is sometimes easy to forget he is 26. Virgil van Dijk has been imperious this season, and last, modifying his game without losing influence on or off the pitch (nor his position of strength when it comes to negotiating a new contract at the age of 33).
Andy Robertson has heard grumblings over his form this season for the first time since establishing himself in the side. They are a consequence of missing preseason through injury and have started to quieten as his sharpness returns. Scotland have just felt the benefit of that too.
Klopp had more experienced cover in central defence with Dejan Lovren, Joël Matip (whose excellent start to the 2019-20 season was curtailed by injury in October) and Joe Gomez, and he had James Milner to fill in at full back. But he did not have a central defensive partnership as commanding as Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté have been this season.
Central defence appeared in need of reinforcement in the summer owing to Konaté's injury record and inconsistent form. His reaction since entering at half time in Slot’s first competitive game at Ipswich has been outstanding, however. Konaté and Van Dijk have underpinned Liverpool’s defensive improvement under Slot and formed the strongest centre-half pairing in the Premier League. Defensive cover could prove an issue over the course of a demanding season, though Gomez has been excellent when called upon. But Slot’s use of two deep-lying midfielders and insistence that full backs hold their defensive positions more often have made Liverpool less vulnerable to counterattacks and more compact. The expected goals against rate of 0.84 per game is Liverpool’s best since 2018-19.
Midfield
The one area that has transformed since Liverpool last won the league. Klopp overhauled midfield in terms of personnel before the start of last season, and Liverpool are reaping the benefits of their bedding-in periods, while Slot has changed the shape and style.
Midfield is where the differences between Slot and Klopp are most pronounced. The latter’s “dependables” – Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum and Milner, plus a supporting cast of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keïta and Adam Lallana – were the well-drilled machine that dictated Liverpool’s intensity and press. They were there to protect when full backs rampaged and to selflessly serve the formidable front three as swiftly and effectively as possible. And they consistently delivered over several seasons until age took its inevitable toll.
Their successors arguably possess more individual quality and have licence to express it under Slot, though he also demands greater control in possession. Ryan Gravenberch is thriving and, alongside Alexis Mac Allister in central midfield, has softened the blow for Liverpool of Martín Zubimendi’s decision to stay at Real Sociedad in the summer. Curtis Jones has also moved up a level this season, although Slot wants more consistency from the home-grown talent, but Dominik Szoboszlai has yet to recapture his initial Liverpool form. Slot’s midfield is delivering as per his requirements but it would be recency-bias to put it on a par with 2019-20 so soon.
Attack
Klopp bequeathed a squad of title-winning potential to Slot, hence the Liverpool hierarchy resisting outside clamour for signings, and the forward options he left behind would be the envy of most Premier League managers.
In Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Núñez, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah Liverpool possess the depth, variety and quality to sustain their remarkable form. All five are delivering goals and assists, with Salah the first player across Europe’s top five leagues this season to register 10 of each. Liverpool’s one summer recruit, Federico Chiesa, is the only striker not to have made an impression owing to persistent fitness issues.
But, even accounting for Liverpool’s attacking riches, the forward line – in whatever form it takes – has a considerable way to go before inviting comparisons to Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané. A trio that was the perfect mix of precision, pace, genius and understanding will be forever associated with the peak years of Klopp. Not forgetting Divock Origi in the supporting role.
It is yet another tribute to Salah that, almost 2½ years since Mané left and almost 18 months since Firmino followed suit, his phenomenal output has not deteriorated with age or the changes around him. Salah is only two months and eight months younger than Mané and Firmino respectively too. If this is to be his final season in a Liverpool shirt, and the numbers present a convincing argument why it should not be, then the Egypt international is driving the charge to bow out with a second Premier League winner’s medal. – Guardian
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