After the last Premier League matchday, where Liverpool, despite their dominance and total control, could have lost the title race because of a very uncharacteristic error from both Van Dijk and Alisson, the table looks very promising for the Reds.
The accumulated points at this stage already beats their overall points total for a Premier League season in all but four previous campaign (2008/09- 86, 2013/14- 84, 2005/06- 82, 2001/02- 80).
With seven games remaining, it is certain that the highest points total ever won by Liverpool in the league (86) will be easily surpassed. But how are Klopp’s men faring when compared to previous title winners at this stage of the season?
During the Premier League era, these are the only teams that have done better than the current Reds side after 31 games.
Not only are Liverpool having one of the best ever seasons in their history, but they are also having one of the best ever seasons in the Premier League history.
The tragic part? They may not win the title, despite this record, despite, historically, teams with this many points having had a points gap of nearly double digits at this stage.
Let it sink in; those teams mentioned above have had gaps of 16, 13, 12, nine, seven and six points at this stage, with just seven games remaining. That would mean that to topple those teams, the chasing pack would have had to hope that those teams lose at least three games, while ensuring they themselves win all their remaining matches, which is just absurd.
The point is, all these winners had wrapped up their leagues by this point. And this Liverpool side will probably go a point behind City after they play their game in hand.
That is what we are talking about here. That’s how difficult it is to win this time, against this City side. The ‘bottlers’ tag that everybody likes to stick to this Liverpool side is utterly ridiculous considering the squad strength is nowhere near City’s.
To even be in this position, show this much consistency and ‘bottle’ throughout the season, is an achievement. Or to be more accurate an overachievement.
Considering the remaining fixtures and the upturn in recent form, Liverpool shall quite possibly surpass the 90 points mark; something that only seven teams have done in the Premier League and all of whom have won the damn thing. Liverpool may not.
That said, the team definitely should have done better. A total of 80 points was possible at this stage and the team had to reach that milestone by now, to have the upper hand in the title race. Liverpool had to win one of Leicester/West Ham and one of Everton/Manchester United.
It was down to Klopp’s naivety with his team selections that this did not happen. Four extra points and the title race would have looked very different and given Liverpool more room for error in the final run-in.
As of now, the Reds do not have control over how the league table will look like in May and cannot afford to drop even a single point. That is the reality of Liverpool’s season. That is how strong this Manchester City side is.
Klopp needs to be braver with his team selections and trust more of his players, specifically Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri instead of Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson.
Underutilising the squad is extremely poor management and unacceptable at this stage. There is a minuscule chance and winning all the remaining games would lead them to the title, but that will be determined by the team that Klopp puts out every week. It is all about the correct team selections now.
Considering the bigger picture, it really has been a tremendous season for the Reds and it’s something to be extremely proud of. The manager and the team have evolved and progressed so much and it will only get better. Every Liverpool supporter should have nothing but love for their team because it quite simply has never been better than this in the Premier League era.
