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Could Liverpool have finally found consistency?

David Nugent in Editorial, English Premier League 25 Sep 2016

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Liverpool may have finally found some consistency under German boss Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool may have finally found some consistency under German boss Jurgen Klopp

Say it quietly but Liverpool may have finally found consistency under Jurgen Klopp. The Reds have looked more unpredictable than the British weather under their affable German boss.

However, it seems the side from Merseyside may just have found a bit of consistency.

A 5-1 mauling of ten-man Hull on Saturday afternoon means Liverpool have won four consecutive games in all competitions, scoring 14 times in the process.

Deadly going forward

Liverpool have been simply deadly going forward this season at times. Klopp’s heavy metal football has certainly been hitting the right note in recent weeks. The German has the perfect players available to him to get the right results.

The likes Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are players who are difficult to stop on form. Their movement, football intelligence and awareness have made the Reds a well-tuned attacking machine under Klopp.

Klopp’s Liverpool seem to fear nobody on a football field. The Reds are starting to look reminiscent of Dortmund when Klopp helped BVB do the unthinkable and overthrow the all-powerful Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

That team was forged over a couple of years, but already the same trademarks are there in the team’s attacking play, even if the defensive play is not quite as solid as Dortmund’s.

Can the Reds stay consistent?

The truth is though Liverpool may have impressed in the last few Premier League games, but they still have the capacity of stringing together a run of poor results or a bizarre defeat. This is the flip-side to having such tremendous creative players like Coutinho.

If Coutinho has an off-day he is useless to the team. The Brazilian seems to be either brilliant or invisible. There is no middle ground for the former Inter star. I have talked about this on countless occasions, but it could be a key to the Reds being successful under Klopp.

If Klopp can get the best out of Coutinho then Liverpool could be on the verge of something very special. The key though is keeping the Brazilian fit and on-form, which Liverpool have failed to do over the past few seasons.

The Liverpool boss is probably as frustrated by the Brazilian as the fans. On his day he can rival any attacking midfielder in the English top-flight for brilliance. He just happened to enjoy one of those days against Hull last time out.

One of the most pleasant surprises for everybody connected with the Reds this season must be the form of England international Adam Lallana. The former-Southampton man had never really fully hit form for Liverpool until this season.

This season he has produced three goals and three assists in the Premier League for Klopp’s side and been an influential player. The 27-year-old is an intelligent footballer and seems to thrive on the fact that he is playing in a team with like-minded players.

Can Liverpool win the Premier League title?

Liverpool fans have deluded themselves for a long time with the notion that their team was good enough to finally end the 26-year wait for a top-flight title.

On their day this current Reds team is good enough to beat anybody, so at odds of 11/2 they look like tasty outsiders for the title. In fact, Liverpool are now second favourites with the bookies to win the title this season.

There are many factors that would have to come into play for Klopp’s side to win the Premier League title this season. The side from Merseyside would need to maintain a good level of consistency. As we all know has been their biggest flaw under Klopp.

The Reds would also need the seemingly imperious Manchester City to slip up majorly at some point in the season. The Citizens under Pep Guardiola look far stronger mentally than under Manuel Pellegrini and that looks unlikely.

At the moment Liverpool really do look like the real deal. However, they have had a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot against inferior opponents. A trip to struggling Swansea beckons next weekend.

It will be interesting to see what Reds side turns up. If it’s the Liverpool team that defeated Leicester or Hull then they will win comfortably. However, there is still a chance that the Liverpool side that were beaten by Burnley will show up.

Only time will tell if Liverpool can sustain their consistency. However, at least Liverpool fans know that their team is moving in the right direction under the German boss.

Can Liverpool win the Premier League title this season?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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