Liverpool Playing Like Champions (And Still Haven’t Peaked)

Liverpool have opened up an eleven point lead over last season’s Premier League champions Manchester City.

Today, Jurgen Klopp’s men managed to see out a 2-1 win (BBC Match Report) over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield. That was The Reds’ thirteenth win in their opening fourteen league outings this season!

To be honest, Liverpool haven’t been playing flamboyant football for the most part this term. At times they’ve even looked sluggish. But all great champions learn to gain victories no matter how they are playing.

The problem for the rest of the Premier League could be that Liverpool really find their groove in the second half of the season and become pretty unstoppable.

The Reds haven’t scored as many as Man City and they’ve conceded more than Leicester City but what they have done this season is manage the game that is in front of them. That’s seen them pick up wins over both their nearest rivals this term.

Klopp has great belief in his team and trusts his players. He has the best centre-half in the world in Virgil van Dijk, who today scored a brace to put The Seagulls to the sword. Goalkeeper Alisson may have been sent off in today’s encounter but he too gives the team another rock steady presence at the back!

The full-backs offer the team tremendous width and they provide plenty of ammunition and assists to the forward line. As well as being terrific going forward, Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold also have supreme engines to always trackback and help their defensive colleagues.

The midfield is full of foot-soldiers, who remain disciplined and they offer the team a spine that helps the attackers to fully flourish.

No trio is currently as feared as Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. They offer directness, pace and a prolific scoring record that shows little signs of unabating. They’ve struck eighteen times so far in the English top flight this season.

Yet you still get the feeling that most of the team, including the forwards haven’t peaked yet. Personally I still expect more will come from them. They could produce a hiding for an opponent in the next month, Everton are next up and they won’t fancy facing their nearest rivals at the moment.

After today’s game, German boss Jurgen Klopp appreciated his side’s opponents but he was also very pleased that his team worked hard to see out the victory:

“It was difficult this game because Brighton are a good football side. They put players between the lines. They put so many players there so it’s difficult to defend. They had a lot of possession and we had to work really hard. I loved that the boys were prepared to do that after a busy week.”

Via Yahoo Sport

In football, winning is the best habit to fall into. Liverpool ended the last campaign as Champions League winners and that triumph seems to have ignited a real hunger within Klopp’s troops to go on and finally secure their first Premier League title.

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