Despite their glorious history, Liverpool are yet to win the Premier League crown. Could 2016-17 prove to be a historic title-winning season for Jurgen Klopp’s men?
Liverpool have won just about every trophy you can imagine. Any that really matter, anyway. Except one illustrious trophy that continues to elude the Reds: the Premier League. The club’s last title win was in 1990, before the Premier League was in effect. So could 2017 see Jurgen Klopp guide the Reds to their first Premier League title?
Klopp has only been at Anfield just under a year but has made a significant impact since his arrival. Not only on the field with the team, but off the field with the fans. Klopp and Liverpool have a bond that not many teams develop with their manager.
But, fairytale romance aside, what are Liverpool’s true prospects for Premier League glory? Klopp’s men have started the season well in terms of performances, but have already dropped points to Tottenham and Burnley.
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The team have generally performed well, though, and caused chaos for perennial top four outfit Arsenal and defending champions Leicester City. On those performances, Liverpool are title challengers. No question.
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The win over Leicester on Saturday showed Liverpool’s attacking power to take apart a team that was among the best defensively in the league last season. However, it’s games like the one against Burnley that suggest a title win will probably be out of reach this season.
Ultimately, it comes down to consistency. Whoever wins the league will be the most consistent. Come rain or shine, come good days and bad days, come whatever may – the champions eek out wins more often than not. Not draws. Not slim losses. Wins. Over and over and over again.
Can Liverpool do that? When the Reds are at their best, they look potential title winners. But they don’t always look that good. Nobody does. And when they don’t, valuable points tend to slip away. Do they have the grit and grind when it’s a bad day? It’s an open question. Even good days – like the Spurs game – can sometimes end up in dropped points.
Do they have the creativity, too? When the ball is won high up the pitch, Liverpool take advantage to clinical effect. But when teams sit deep and allow the Reds to have the ball and challenge them to create space and chances for themselves, the whole games seem to become a lot more challenging.
And then there’s that pesky defense. You can’t trust that defense. The attack will score the required goals over a season, but certain games can sometimes get away due to defensive lapses. The backline can be solid at times. But when it’s bad, it’s embarrassingly bad. There’s no halfway measures.
Klopp maybe should have brought in another defender or two before the transfer window shut. But now the German has to rely on what he has. Which could well be the downfall of any title bid unless improvements continue to come throughout the season.
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Maybe then Liverpool could win the Premier League. It’s not impossible. Leicester won the league last year and Liverpool are certainly better than the Foxes. Man for man, anyway. Although, the defense and the consistency is what could hold Liverpool back in the end.
But the way Klopp has his team playing when they’re at their best, means you can’t quite write them off just yet. Top four is a very reachable target. But how genuinely reachable is the Premier League?