Liverpool FC have had a very rough summer preseason- that’s not news. It’s not a hot take either, as Reds manager Jurgen Klopp would freely admit that his side struggled massively during most of the exhibitions, and that their preseason was highly unorthodox, and not in a good way.
However, they looked much better in the season curtain raiser, playing reigning champions Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in the Community Shield on Sunday, before eventually bowing out on penalty kicks.
Liverpool have looked much more coherent and cohesive in their last couple outings than they have for most of July and early August. The casinos have taken note of that too, as the Reds have the second best Premier League title odds and top four finish odds of anybody in the league. The sports books are bullish on LFC, and the only club backed better is reigning champions/domestic treble winners Manchester City.
The Merseyside club is a pretty safe bet this season as we’re yet to see them play their best football. Still without the services of Sadio Mane (one of three players who tied to win the Golden Boot award last season), they’re a long way from firing on all cylinders in midseason form.
They took on a City side that had more of their players back and closer to mid-season form than they did, and battled them down to the final whistle this past weekend.
“The least we deserved was the equalizer, one save decided it and I cannot be disappointed today,” Klopp said after the game.
“The performance was much more important today than a win. We know we are still here, we can still play proper football.”
The reigning European champions looked far superior in this trophy game at the national stadium than they did in losses to Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli. The draw against Sporting Lisbon wasn’t pretty either.
However, Reds supporters can definitely take solace in the fact that Klopp’s men should be able to turn it on when it actually counts for something.
They looked decent in the win over Lyon in a friendly this past week, and I wouldn’t bet against them in the season opener, when they take on Norwich City on Friday night.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.