Manchester City knew that they needed to collect three points away to Chelsea in order to further prolong Liverpool’s wait for their first league title in 30 years. However, it wasn’t to be. After a City free kick was cleared away by the Chelsea defence, the ball fell to İlkay Gündoğan and Benjamin Mendy who both failed to sort out their feet and clear it. Fortunately, for Chelsea and Liverpool fans alike, Christian Pulisic gathered up the ball, skipped past Mendy and slotted the ball into the back of the net, past a hapless Ederson.
Kevin De Bruyne, a former Blues player, struck an inch perfect free kick into the top left corner of Arrizabalaga’s goal. No hope for the Spaniard. This goal was further proof for why De Bruyne is considered to be one of the best midfielders in world football. The final goal of the match, this one scored by a Brazilian made Liverpool the happiest city in the country. Ederson was on form to make a couple good saves before Tammy Abraham looked set to score the winner, when Fernandinho parried the ball away with his hand. VAR is called into play by referee, Stuart Attwell, which helps him make his mind up and shows a red card to City’s #25. Willian comfortably fires home from the penalty spot, meaning that he has never missed a Chelsea penalty he has taken.
Moving on…
Liverpool started this season by beating Norwich 4-1 at home. They then won their next seven premier league matches in a row. In that eight-game win streak, the Reds scored 20 and conceded only 6. A very impressive start to the season. Liverpool’s front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino are heavily relied on to score the goals and they have produced the end product on many occasions. Last season, the trio scored 56 goals in the Premier League alone, which was just under 63% of the team’s goals (89).
In the ‘beautiful game’ that is football, the front three are usually how teams win their games. They score the goals. There’s no other way to put it. Scoring goals helps win games for your team. Naturally, there are many goal scoring midfielders who have single-handedly won a match, without the need for their striker. However, the strikers are the most relied upon to hit the back of the net. Check out these strike forces down the years who have been mesmerising in front of goal.
Strikers
- Messi, Suarez and Neymar (famously known as MSN) – from the 2014/15 to 2016/17 season, the three players combined to score 364 goals for Barcelona.
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- Bale, Benzema and Cristiano (like MSN, famously known as BBC) – in the same time frame, this trio scored 268 goals while at Real Madrid.
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- Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez (Manchester United, 2007/08) – in 140 appearances they scored 79 goals, bringing back to Old Trafford the Premier League and Champions League double.
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- Marco van Basten scored 125 goals in 201 appearances (1987-95). Ruud Gullit hit the net 56 times in 171 games (1987-93). Finally, Pietro Paolo Virdis struck 76 goals in 184 matches (1984-89).
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- Ezequiel Lavezzi scored 35 goals in 161 games between 2012 and 2016. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was more prolific, scoring 156 in 180 matches for the French side (2012-16). Edinson Cavani, on the other hand, has scored 200 in 301 matches. His contract is set to expire on June 30th, 2020.
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Some of these goalscoring statistics are truly mind-blowing. Now, you’ll notice that I didn’t write the scoring tallies in the same way for every strike force I chose. For example, the first two, MSN and BBC, are both well documented and overall didn’t change (much) for the years they played together. I included Manchester United because the goals scored by these three in 2007/8 was just amazing.
Many brilliant goal scorers have come and gone but few can claim to be as naturally gifted as Marco van Basten. Looking at his goal tally above, the numbers are almost hard to believe. Finally, I’ll mention Zlatan Ibrahimovic, that is all.
Steering away from superb strike forces down the years, let’s return to the red team from Merseyside. Liverpool haven’t only been about the strikers this season; their defence has been one of the strongest in the league.
Defenders
- Andrew Robertson: The Scottish left-back has helped his team win 27 games out of 29 (so far) and has recovered the ball 179 times since August.
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- Virgil van Dijk: The £75m defender has been a key player for Liverpool this year. He has personally made 137 clearances for the team and chipped in with four goals (so far).
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- Joe Gomez: The man alongside VVD has helped to keep 11 clean sheets. With a 71% tackling success rate, he has been an essential figure in Liverpool’s backline.
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- Trent Alexander-Arnold: Alexander-Arnold (TAA) has provided 12 assists so far, an amount that most midfielders would be proud of. 21 goals conceded isn’t terrible either.
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Defenders are crucial to any team. Along with the goalkeeper, they help to protect the goal. Down the years, some thrown their bodies on the line to stop a ball crossing the line. In my mind, clearing a ball off the line matches the feeling you get from scoring in the opposition’s net.
When any team wins the Premier League, there are wild celebrations and the players are hailed as heroes by their fans. The top teams will remain at the top and continue to challenge for the title year after year. Teams have even won it in two consecutive seasons. That is testament to the players on the field and the manager organising the tactics every single week.
Talking of managers, let’s look at Jürgen Klopp.
FSV Mainz 05
The team that started it all for the German. He retired as a player in 2001 and took on the job of manager. He secured promotion to the Bundesliga in 2004, where they would remain until the 2006/07 season. Unfortunately, he couldn’t gain promotion and left the club in 2007/08.
The numbers:
- Matches: 269
- Wins: 111
- Draws: 72
- Losses: 86
Borussia Dortmund
Like his first team, Jürgen Klopp would go on to become their longest ever serving manager. Before we get there though, let’s look at what the team won in his time there.
German Champion (2010/11 and 2011/12) – German Cup winner (2011/12) – German Super Cup winner (2013/14 and 2014/15)
He also led the team to their first ever league and cup double. However, it the Champions League that he couldn’t get his hands on, losing to Jupp Heynckes Bayern at Wembley, in 2012/13.
The numbers:
- Matches: 318
- Win: 180
- Draws: 65
- Losses: 73
Liverpool
Joined the club as manager in October 2015 and since then has collected eight Manager of the Month awards. Five of these came in 2019 (March, August, September, November, December). He managed Liverpool to the Champions League Final last season, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi.
The numbers*:
- Matches: 256
- Wins: 157
- Draws: 56
- Losses: 43
*all competitions played in, not just Premier League
Planning, researching and then writing this piece has been a challenge. However, in the end, writing always becomes rewarding. I love it, as much as I love football.
Liverpool have been fantastic this season, I think everyone can agree on that. Whoever you support, seeing a time dominate from the very start has been an inspiration. Of course, people will reference Manchester City 2018/19, Chelsea 2009/10, Manchester United 2007/08 and also Arsenal 2003/04, who have all done it before. Equally, people will bring up how much money they have spent since 1990; but actually, haven’t all top clubs spent millions, even billions to be crowned Premier League Champion? The top clubs, with the most financial backing will always spend huge sums of money because they can. Transfers don’t always work out, but the majority will be influential for a club.
Liverpool will next face Manchester City away from home. With the Covid-19 restrictions at play, will we expect to see a Guard of Honour given to the Liverpool team by Manchester City?
RGE
Many wonders 