Liverpool facing another crucial period in their title push
Many pundits and fans alike raised concerns over Liverpool’s Christmas period and how they would cope with the demands. The answer to this was tremendous.
Liverpool once again find themselves in a very positive position, with the goal now about maintaining their good form and keeping the gap at the top as big as possible until the final title run-in comes.
In mid-January, Liverpool find themselves facing another 10 tricky Premier League fixtures. Starting with Crystal Palace at home and finishing with Tottenham at Anfield on March 30th.
So far this season Jurgen Klopp has rotated his squad very well, to the point where everybody has fresh legs going into the second half of the season.
Recently, several injuries have occurred in defence, which has left Liverpool looking slightly light at the back. Joe Gomez, who started the season in the first 11, is sidelined until February, while Joel Matip broke his collarbone against Napoli.
However, with numbers short, Fabinho has shown that he can play a number of different positions, with a fantastic performance at centre back against Brighton.
Liverpool play Manchester United on the February 24th, and it’s essential that the Reds go to Old Trafford with at least a four-point gap to whoever may be in second place at that stage, meaning they should beat Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham and Bournemouth who they play have beforehand.
Although Liverpool have been much better than United this season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will treat that game like a cup final, as they’d rather anyone but Liverpool win the league.
This motive is the same for Everton, who Liverpool play at Goodison Park on March 2nd. However, Liverpool can take hope from the fact that only Manchester City have beaten them this season.
The number of points Liverpool gain from this period all depends on squad rotation. Klopp so far has rotated the squad perfectly to ensure his team don’t run out of legs during this period and beyond. The squad rotation will certainly become an apparent factor in the home games, where Xherdan Shaqiri will play a key role in adding an extra attacker to the mix.
Klopp will already have a mental image of what the plan is as the winter period comes to an end. He will already have his names for the games against United, Everton and Tottenham, with a huge two-legged tie with Bayern Munich also on the horizon.
After a mixed start, £40 million signing Fabinho has certainly integrated himself into the team during December and January, with strong performances against Everton, United and Arsenal. He has shown the character needed to step into the Liverpool midfield.
Klopp will be hoping that Naby Keita finds his feet and becomes the player we all saw as RB Leipzig last season. While Gomez coming back into the fold will be a huge bonus after the potentiel he showed alongside Virgil van Dijk.
The key thing for Liverpool during this run is maintaining the gap over Manchester City.
The run Liverpool have ahead of them is not necessarily as difficult on paper as the winter one, however, as Palace and Leicester have shown against Man City, you can’t take anything for granted in this league.