Premier League: The Match That Defined The Season
Liverpool went on to extend their winning streak in the Premier League by winning the next 15 matches tying City’s record of 18 before their shock loss to Watford.
More importantly, they expanded their lead in The Top Flight to an insurmountable 25 points. City continued to be plagued by inconsistency driven by opponents exploiting their weakest link, their backline, and possible mental fatigue.
They went on to lose an additional four league matches, including both Manchester derbies. Off the pitch, they were hit with the UEFA “death penalty” by being banned from European competition for the next two seasons.
Two key statistics from the November match up revealed the new Liverpool script.
The Reds xG for the match was 1.33 compared to 1.38 in the previous City match. However, Liverpool was able to finish off their chances with perfect shots, which was not the case in the January game.
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Klopp’s side allowed City an average of 20.46 passes in their defensive zone before a defensive action (PPDA). In their previous meeting, their PPDA was 25.93. Though for the Reds, these are higher than usual numbers for their defense, it does show that they pressed their opponents significantly more than before.
Most teams, when facing Pep’s charges, tend to pull back and allow them a lot of room to pass the ball around in their zone. Liverpool took the braver approach by coming at them a little harder while risking opening gaps in their defense.
In a massive pivotal league match, the new script was written.
Sadly, as talks have begun to swirl about the future of the current Premier League season, the question of whether or not the script will be finished during this league campaign is shrouded in doubt.
Next. United might be stuck with flop Sanchez. dark
If the season is voided, as some are advocating, the script will be left unfinished, and the question will remain if whether it ever will.