In midweek, Liverpool’s shock loss to Brighton put their Premier League title defense hopes on the ropes. Today, their thrashing at the hands of Manchester City provided the TKO. The Reds will not be repeating as league champions in 2020/21, and the manager, Jurgen Klopp, would be the first to admit that.
In falling 4-1 at home to City, the reigning champions fell 10 points behind the champions-elect, despite having played a game more.
At this point, Manchester United are the only side that really stand a chance of catching City, and even that is a bit of a stretch.
City are crushing everybody right now, and they’re doing in spite of the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, their best player. Liverpool sit fourth, but they’re only one point ahead of fifth place Chelsea.
When asked if Liverpool face a tough test to stay in the top four, Klopp said to Sky Sports: “That is our main target, that is clear. We will try everything — there is enough games to play to secure that but we have to win games.”
These comments come on the heels of what star fullback Andy Robertson said in mid-week after the upset loss to Brighton. Robo ruled out the prospects of his side retaining the title this term.
“Any game against Man City is a big one,” Robertson said heading into the Premier League weekend’s headliner fixture.
“As this moment stands, we’re not in the title race. We are seven points behind them and they have a game in hand. I’m sure they’d say the same if they were potentially 10 points behind.
“We need to get back to the Liverpool everyone knows. We’re still a good team. We don’t turn into a bad team overnight.”
No, they did not turn into a bad team overnight, but the long list of injuries have certainly taken their toll on them. A lot of what the Reds do is built out from the back, so the injury crisis in central defense has had ripple effects all up the field, and at times, they just cannot score this season.
Ousted already from the FA Cup, by arch-rivals Manchester United, they are now off until Saturday, when they’ll face the team directly above them in the table, Leicester City.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, 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,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.