To be a Liverpool FC fan could almost be considered as an exercise of fidelity, of hardship and of patience. With Liverpool, when you’re good, you’re good, but when you’re bad, it almost feels like the world is seconds away from coming to its end, even if “bad” is not necessarily as bad as it’s made out to be. If you ask premier league odds pundits all around, for example, this season, both in domestic and European competitions, is a season where Liverpool needs to have stellar performances all around in what’s considered a make-it-or-break-it season for Jurgen Klopp and his squad.
But what are some of the main keys that Liverpool needs to keep in their minds at all times in order to obtain the best results in the EPL this season? Let’s take a look.
Running With The Idea Of Being The EPL’s Underdogs
Sure, in the race for the EPL title we could take Tottenham, Leicester City, or even Everton as the underdogs in this season’s EPL title race, but this moniker feels like it suits Liverpool FC best. While last season all eyes were on Jurgen Klopp’s team to be able to repeat their historic EPL title run from the prior season, what the team and its fans ended up dealing with was a mid-season implosion, riddled with injuries and many other issues that derailed any and all hopes of Liverpool being able to repeat as EPL champions. For many pessimists, that was the sign that Liverpool needed to stop everything, destruct, regroup and rebuild, but all those claims and ideas couldn’t be further from the truth. Why? Because for this season Liverpool can play with less pressure than last season and embrace their underdog status, especially in comparison to Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea.
While the other three teams went out and spent boatloads of money in order to re stash their rosters with some of the best players around, Liverpool had a quieter and tranquil run in the summer transfer market, focusing on smart purchases and being able to bring back their injured players in full form. While teams like City and Chelsea almost look like they have a “title or bust” sign hanging over their head, especially given their spending sprees and United looking to CR7 as the savior of a team that has been more in the outs than in any title contention talks for the past years, Liverpool can play it cool and not worry about any added favoritism pressures.
Jurgen Klopp is a coach known for thriving when his teams are usually deemed underdogs and he loves to show people that his teams are the best examples of how David can beat any and all Goliaths in his way, so maybe there’s the key to making it back to the EPL title at the end of the season.
Having Van Dijk Back In Full Form Will Do Wonders For Liverpool
Nobody embodies the saying that “offenses win games, defenses win championships” more than Virgil Van Dijk. Yes, Liverpool are still enjoying Mohamed Sallah and Sadio Mane’s attacking prowesses, with most fans and analysts expecting Sallah to score 20 or more goals for Liverpool once again this season, but at the end of the day there’s only one truth to the success of this team. When Virgil Van Dijk is healthy and leading the defense, this team is close to unbeatable. Van Dijk was an instrumental piece in Liverpool’s last UCL title run and their historic EPL title run from two years ago. When Van Dijk went down with a season-ending knee injury last year just five games into the season, that’s where all Liverpool fans were witnesses to the true effect that losing the leader of that defense could do to that team. The team did put up valiant efforts here and there, but with the constant changes in the back formations and the pressure to be able to substitute a player as important as the Dutch defender, Klopp and company didn’t fare well enough.
Having Van Dijk back and in full form automatically makes this team a better one. With Matip and Gomez, as well as new defender Konaté all ready and able to play alongside Van Dijk, this team could once again become the well-oiled and feared machine that nobody likes to face.