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Liverpool only lost two league games last season as they came
agonisingly close to an unprecedented quadruple of trophies,
losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League final and
finishing one point behind City.
Looking to build on their exploits, Liverpool spent big on
Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez - the second most expensive
player in their history at an initial 75 million euros ($74.51
million) - and brought an end to a painful contract saga by
getting Mohamed Salah to sign a new deal.
The season therefore promised so much, with almost every single
pundit predicting them or City would become eventual champions,
with the other finishing second.
City have kept up their end of the bargain, winning nine of
their 12 games so far to sit two points behind leaders Arsenal.
Liverpool, however, have fallen off a cliff.
"Clearly as a team something's not going right, it's not going
as well as we want it to go," Liverpool defender Trent
Alexander-Arnold said on Saturday after his side's 2-1 loss to
Leeds United, their first home league defeat since March 2021.
"I'd say we all believe in ourselves, we believe in the way we
play, we believe in the squad and what we can achieve, but I
think when you do get setbacks, it can potentially make you
second-guess yourself and question things.
"We must make sure we put it right, especially next week against
Tottenham (Hotspur), top-four rivals. We kind of need to go
there and get some points if we've got any chance of reaching
our aims and aspirations for the season."
The fact Liverpool players have lowered their sights on just
securing a top-four spot, rather than wrestling the Premier
League trophy back from City, tells you all you need to know.
SLOW STARTS, AGEING STARS
Coach Juergen Klopp has escaped blame from supporters, given all
he has achieved in seven seasons at Anfield, with fans targeting
the club's owners Fenway Sports Group for a lack of investment
in an ageing squad.
While Nunez's arrival was welcome, especially after key forward
Sadio Mane left for Bayern Munich in the close season, other big
name signings were not forthcoming, leaving Klopp with an
ageing, weary squad.
For a team that prioritises high-intensity pressing, the fact
they have the third oldest average starting XI in the Premier
League so far this season does not help their cause.
Slow starts have not helped matters either. Liverpool have
conceded first in seven of their 12 league games thus far - only
lowly Southampton have been breached first more often this term.
Klopp's critics have drawn parallels to his final season at
Borussia Dortmund before he left for Liverpool, where an
over-reliance on star names who had previously inspired them to
glory saw his side bottom of the Bundesliga by late November of
the 2014-15 campaign.
Dortmund also conceded first 17 times in that season, but
recovered to finished seventh. They have never finished as far
down the table since.
With Arsenal still firing on all cylinders, City doing what they
do, Manchester United improving and Chelsea finding their feet
under new coach Graham Potter, Liverpool's trip to Spurs on
Sunday becomes crucial, even this early in the season.
($1 = 1.0065 euros)
(Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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