Has Liverpool’s reign as one of Europe’s best clubs come to an end?

Liverpool Football Club under Jurgen Klopp has been synonymous with success. With a Premier League title in 2019-2020, their first in the Premier League era, to coincide with triumphs in the Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup – the Reds have established themselves as one of the most successful clubs in Europe over the past seven years.

That level of success was expected to continue throughout the 2022-23 Premier League season, with Klopp’s men a slight second favourite among those who bet online to win the league behind defending champions Manchester City. Despite the loss of Ballon d’Or podium-getter Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich, pundits still felt there was enough talent on Liverpool’s roster to challenge yet again this season.

It’s easy to see why, with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota widely considered some of the best players in the world in their respective positions. In spite of their obvious talent, this season has largely been a disappointment through 17 games. At the time of writing, Salah and company currently sit in seventh position in the table – with eight wins, four draws and five losses to their name.

That’s an improvement from earlier in the season, in which they found themselves in tenth position after as many weeks of football. That appeared to be a temporary form slump however, with Liverpool proceeding to win six of their next eight games – and in doing so – catapulted themselves into sixth position in the table and within striking distance of the top four.

With their season looking as though it was back on track, their first real test after the World Cup break came against top ten side Brentford away from home. It was a crucial fixture in that it would provide a good indication as to whether Liverpool are a side to be reckoned with over the second half of the season. 

It proved to be a dismal display from Klopp’s men, whose ill-disciplined play at the back and lackluster offensive raids a far cry from the Liverpool outfits we have been accustomed to in recent years. 

They would ultimately lose 3-1 to the west London side, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal in the 50th minute the only bright spot for the visitors. To add insult to injury, van Dijk is expected to be sidelined for several weeks due to an issue with his hamstring.

That begs the question, is Liverpool’s reign as one of the best clubs in Europe coming to an end? That’s hard to say and could be considered recency bias – however – with the inconsistency they have displayed over the course of this season to date, it’s a question worth asking. There is some good news however, with the signing of the Netherlands’ Cody Gakpo announced at the beginning of the year. 

The 23-year-old PSV Eredivisie winger had a breakout tournament at the World Cup in Qatar, scoring in all three of his country’s group games. He will be a welcome addition to Anfield, with his size, athleticism and ability to score from anywhere providing Liverpool with a unique threat upfront.

Whether or not Liverpool are still an elite team in Europe still needs to be answered – yet given the personnel they have at their disposal at both the managerial level and on the pitch – they’re a team you shouldn’t write off just yet.

Comments:

comments so far. Comments posted to EasyReaderNews.com may be reprinted in the Easy Reader print edition, which is published each Thursday.