Showing sporadic signs of brilliance towards the end of last season, Liverpool were still very hit and miss under Jürgen Klopp, and early signs this would continue appeared towards the start of the season, especially when they lost 2-0 to Burnley directly after beating Arsenal 4-3 away.
However, the German manager and his team have dispelled any doubts in spectacular form, dropping only four points since (draws to Manchester United and Tottenham), and are now Premier League leaders.
One point ahead of Chelsea and two points in front of Manchester City, the question on everyone’s lips is ‘can they keep this up and win the title’?
This is what Vincent Duluc, one of L’Equipe’s journalists, tries to analyse in a video for the newspaper’s website on Thursday.
Explaining the favourites at the beginning of the season were Manchester City, Duluc points out the obvious advantage Liverpool, alongside Chelsea, currently have is their lack of European football.
Finishing eighth last season and failing to lift the Europa League trophy, Jürgen Klopp’s men have a relatively light schedule compared to some of their title rivals, and they are capitalising on this.
Scoring at will but failing to keep clean sheets (one in 11 games), the French journalist explains one big question mark remains, and that is whether Liverpool can win the Premier League by having the best attack but not the best defence, something Klopp did at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Putting the ball in the back of the net hasn’t been an issue, with the reason behind this is because Duluc believes Klopp’s instructions are simple: “When you have the ball, do whatever you want.”
With 26 different scorers in 2016, Liverpool are clearly a threat from anywhere on the pitch, with the Coutinho-Firmino-Mané front three causing havoc in the opposition’s defence with their movement.
Add the likes of Wijnaldum and Lallana in the mix, and you can end up having a front five, which is incredibly hard to pick up for defenders.
Describing Liverpool’s defence as ‘ordinary’, Duluc has, however, been very impressed with Jordan Henderson.
The journalist explains the temporary England captain is finally finding his feet, describing him as ‘transparent’ prior to Klopp’s arrival, and his new role in the team makes him the hardest to replace.
Never really giving a final verdict, Duluc seems to suggest that if Liverpool can sort out their leaky defence, they’ll have a really good shot at the title, and with Loris Karius eventually adapting to Premier League football, they could also have a great goalkeeper.
The future is bright at Anfield, it seems. Going forward, at least.
