London: A 30-year wait to win a top flight title has been too long for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s men are in a rush to end that drought as soon as possible with the best ever start to a season in Europe’s top five leagues.
Saturday’s 1-0 win at Spurs in a rematch of last season’s Champions League final was the Reds 20th in 21 Premier League games this season with a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in October their only stumble.
That stunning run is even more impressive when extended over the past year.
A 2-1 defeat to Manchester City January 3 2019 — that ultimately cost them the title despite amassing 97 points — was the last time Liverpool lost in the league.
Since then they have collected 104 points with 33 wins and five draws, whilst also winning the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup. “The problem is you don’t get anything for best starts apart from numbers,” insisted Klopp.
“The only thing we are interested in is what we can get in the summer.”
At Liverpool’s current pace, spring will barely have sprung by the time the title is wrapped up.
They enjoy a 16-point lead over second-placed Leicester and have a game in hand, although City can cut the gap to 14 should they win at Aston Villa later Sunday.
“It is not done yet because this league is so strong, because we face so many strong opponents,” added Klopp.
“The moment when we have enough points that nobody can catch us anymore, then we start talking about it.”
However, it seems a matter of when, not if, he adds the Premier League to two Bundesliga crowns won at Borussia Dortmund.
And the quality of opposition Klopp is wary of only strengthens his side’s claim to be among the best in the history of English football.
The Premier League provided all four finalists for the Champions and Europa League last season and all seven English sides in European competition have made the knockout stages once again.
City rewrote the record books with their 100-point season in 2017/18, but Liverpool are on track to better even many of those landmarks. “When Klopp came in it was end-to-end and exciting, they were an exciting team to watch, but now they are the best team to watch,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports.
“We knew he was a top manager but I didn’t think this development of the team over several years was possible. To get to this stage, they are the best team in the world.”
After so many years when ending the three-decade wait for the title consumed Liverpool, now it may not even be the limit of their ambitions.
They have reached the Champions League final for the past two seasons and are the side to beat when the competition returns next month.
Even when Klopp fielded a youthful side with only one first-team regular for a Merseyside derby against Everton in the FA Cup last weekend, his kids came good in a 1-0 win.
The German will back his reserves to take care of Bristol City or Shrewsbury in the next round and the closer they get to Wembley, another shot at history may tempt Klopp into fielding a stronger side.
City completed English football’s first ever domestic treble last season, but only Alex Ferguson’s vintage Manchester United side of 1998/99 have claimed the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in the same season.
Match that achievement and the case for this Liverpool campaign to be the best English football has seen will be unarguable.
AFP