Claudio Ranieri’s first match as the manager of Watford did not go the way he would have wanted, which is never a good omen for someone just stepping into the role. For Klopp though, Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of the club was a boon for the growing talk that the Reds could be in contention for the Premier League title again this year.
Those in the city know all too well how painful it was for the club to suffer three decades of disappointment when it came to league titles. A few near misses over the years had helped to keep the hope alive, but fans had become all too used to the pain of never getting to relive the glory of the past.
Jürgen Klopp has made a big difference for Liverpool and is likely to be remembered as one of the club’s all-time greats.
In mid-2020 he was certainly regarded by many as club royalty after ending Anfield’s 30-year drought. This meant that, when the 2020-21 season kicked off just a few months later, many Liverpool fans had high hopes that Klopp could lead his men to victory once again.
As we now know, this simply wasn’t meant to be, with the Reds floundering around near the middle of the table for much of the season before climbing back up to secure a place in the Champions League through a 4th place finish.
So when the 2021-22 season came around, most pundits, fans, and bookmakers were not overly enthused by Liverpool’s chances.
But following a decent start to the season, could this be about to change?
What Do the Bookies Think?
Bookmakers spend a lot of time and money trying to predict what will happen in the world of sport. Their oddsmakers use historic trends, recent performance, and factors like having a home-side advantage to get a better idea of what they think will likely happen and set the odds used to accept bets accordingly.
Betting on the Premier League is an incredibly popular activity, especially in football cities like Liverpool and even more so ahead of a new season. During the months leading up to opening games, many fans will often take advantage of free bet promotions and other deals to get the most from the wagers they make. But this year, many Reds fans would have been a little disheartened to see that the bookies had given Liverpool fairly average odds.
As with last year, Manchester City have been the favourite for some time but Chelsea are also rated as having better chances than the Reds.
As the season has progressed, Liverpool have slowly received better and better odds from bookies, climbing to third favourite ahead of Manchester United with odds of 7/2.
What About the Pundits?
Of course, the bookies aren’t always right. None of them predicted Leicester City’s Premier League title win in the 2015-16 season and had given them mediocre odds for much of that year.
Back in August, not a single media outlet had a football pundit that was backing Liverpool as a title contender. Phil McNulty wrote for the BBC Sport website, saying the Reds would likely be runners-up to Manchester City.
This was a brighter outlook than the one presented by James Benge of CBS Sports, who said that fourth place was the most realistic place for Liverpool this season. He added that some seasons “look to be set up for a particular team from the outset” and that while 2019-20 was definitely set up for Klopp’s men, this year “is not one of those seasons”.
Jermaine Beckford, the former Leeds striker, painted an even more dismal picture. He predicted that Liverpool wouldn’t even manage to secure a place in the Champions League for the 2022-23 season, tipping Leicester for the fourth spot instead.
The Squad Could Be the Deciding Factor
Back in September 2020, former Manchester United player Gary Neville told The Guardian that he believed it would take a “superhuman effort” from Liverpool to secure another Premier League title without signing another “top-quality player”.
His rationale for this was that history shows us time and time again that teams suffer from a decline in performance after they achieve the highest honours available, especially if they’ve worked for several years to get to that point.
Liverpool definitely falls into this definition. The team sheet hasn’t changed much at all for several years and the squad had to exert a lot of energy to reach a Champions League final, win the competition the following year, and then secure a Premier League title in the season after that.
Klopp doesn’t share this opinion though. He continues to have a lot of faith in his men and has publicly backed them on more than one occasion.
While the quality and fitness of the Liverpool team will certainly be one of the biggest factors in determining the club’s success in 2021-22, we have to acknowledge that the club was left with a gaping hole last year after Virgil van Dijk had to sit out for nine months due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
During his absence, Liverpool lost a number of key games last season, including a 3-1 defeat against Leicester, a 1-0 loss to Fulham, and a historic 2-0 loss at home to Everton. It is no wonder that the Dutchman is referred to as “Superman” by his colleagues.
Upfront, Liverpool also have some star talent. Mo Salah is the most notable of these, having scored more than a century of goals for the club during his time at Anfield. In fact, after that 5-0 victory against Watford, Klopp said in the press conference that he believed Salah to be the best player in the world right now. He’s also joined by Firminio and Mané who are also brilliant goal scorers.
Listening to some of the players after the game, it does seem like many of them are feeling very confident and aren’t suffering from the pressure to win again that they carried with them last season.
So when Neville said a “superhuman effort” was needed to win again, this relaxed attitude, positive culture, and talent that Klopp has at his disposal may just be enough to surprise both the bookies and the pundits.