Let’s talk about seven, baby. Nope, doesn’t really work, does it? Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp will have to come up with another pun for his post-match interview should the Reds win their seventh Champions League trophy at the Gazprom Arena in May. And, yes, whether you like it or not, Liverpool are looking extremely dangerous heading into the latter rounds of the tournament — so it is worth talking about the prospect of yet another big-eared trophy on display in Anfield’s trophy cabinet!
There’s no doubt that this current crop of Liverpool players are better than the 2019 champions (pictured above), who beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final, with the additions of Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz, Ibrahima Konaté and Thiago adding real strength to Klopp’s ranks.
Yet, it seems like the six-time European Cup winners are flying under the radar somewhat at this stage of the competition — or at least they were until that 2-0 win over Inter Milan in the first leg of their round of 16 encounter — with much of the talk surrounding Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and even Bayern Munich.
The win over the current Italian Serie A champions isn’t exactly ground breaking, nor was it a real shock to the bet exchange UK, but it did amplify Liverpool’s brilliance. Klopp’s side are on a fine run of form, having not lost any of their 10 games since that 1-0 defeat away to Leicester City on December 28th — a loss that many claimed had all but confirmed Manchester City’s Premier League title defence.
When a 2-2 draw with Chelsea followed, the general consensus was that another mid-season crumble, similar to that of last season, was about to occur on Merseyside — especially with the added factor of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Naby Keïta jetting off the Africa Cup of Nations. But that wasn’t to be the case at all.
In fact, it was quite the opposite, as Liverpool won all three of their league games without their two star players — if you can count the game against Leicester — closing the gap on Man City to nine points (with a game in hand), progressed through two rounds of the FA Cup and secured their place in the League Cup final later this month, where they’ll face Chelsea.
Fighting on all fronts isn’t something that Liverpool are particularly used to under the Klopp regime though. The EFL Cup final on February 27th will be just the second domestic cup final the German has been in with Liverpool, with the other being the same competition’s showpiece match in 2016 — just months after he took the reigns from Brendan Rodgers. So, it will be interesting to see how they cope with any potential burnout over the next four months so.
A slimline squad or a lack of depth is certainly no issue, or an excuse, for Liverpool anymore. Díaz offers a lot more in the attacking areas compared to Divock Origi or Takumi Minamino, who didn’t even make the matchday squad for the trip to Burnley, while Harvey Elliott has returned from that ankle injury to make up the numbers in the centre of the park.
Every single player played a part in the win over Inter. It was a ferocious 90 minutes of high-intensity football, but Virgil van Dijk and Konaté were cool heads at the back, while Fabinho sat just in front of the defenders brilliantly to dispossess the hosts and allow Elliott and Thiago the freedom to get forward. Nothing really needs to be said about Liverpool’s attackers — most of us have run out superlatives over the last few years.
Inter aren’t the side they were just last season, with Antonio Conte and Romelu Lukaku waving goodbye to the San Siro in the summer, and there are far better sides left in the competition. But this Liverpool side can go head-to-head with any of the remaining teams and still fancy their chances of getting a result — that’s what makes them true contenders.