Jurgen Klopp's side have fallen behind seven times before staging a comeback win this season - will that be key to Premier League glory?; watch Manchester United vs Liverpool live on Super Sunday this weekend, with an earlier-than-usual kick-off time of 3.30pm
Sunday 7 April 2024 06:13, UK
Liverpool are making comebacks their thing. Seven times the Reds have fallen behind this season only to end the game triumphant, the latest coming against Brighton last weekend.
It's got a whiff of 'champion's credentials'. This new-found, or rediscovered defiance, which has its roots in Jurgen Klopp's refusal to surrender, will serve them well as this enthralling title race meanders and zigzags in unpredictable directions.
Liverpool at their best have always been daring under Klopp. They have won everything the club game has to offer. But this final farewell, before the German takes his emotional leave after nine years in charge at Anfield, has a different feel about it.
While the theme is consistent, the methods are not. The blueprint is varied. And these are not cluster comebacks, there is evidence of Liverpool falling behind in most months this season before staging a fightback to claim victory - 21 points won from losing positions.
What's driving such upturn? From calmness to certitude to tactical intrigue, Liverpool's - and Klopp's - capability to pivot when the going gets tough has shifted. The 'mentality monsters' are back.
It's been well documented how impressively Klopp has used his bench this term, and that remains a staple of how Liverpool have outsmarted opposition teams late in games, but let's circle back - in a less formulaic way than it sounds - to the summer. The Liverpool relaunch.
Klopp masterminded a rebuilding of the team's engine room: new midfield options that have reinstated energy and vibrancy as the heartbeat. The blending of new faces, and emerging academy graduates, with the trusted old guard, has been transformative.
Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita all left. Replaced by Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo. An upgrade in every position.
Control in tight matches has been key. Only once this season have Liverpool fallen behind by more than a single goal - to Arsenal at the Emirates - and that's down to a greater level of command and power in the central third. They don't panic, there's no fear or agitation, just trust in the game plan and its merits.
Sky Sports' features expert Adam Bate calls Endo Liverpool's escape-room specialist. The problem solver. The understated, but intelligent, architect who makes things tick. He's right. But the real standout star of this midfield overhaul is Mac Allister.
The Argentine World Cup winner has been superhuman of late, with a hand in seven goals in his last six appearances, scoring three and providing four assists.
No contribution was more keenly felt than his screamer against Sheffield United on Thursday, with nerves jangling after Conor Bradley's own goal had created unwanted peril.
On this occasion, Liverpool were not behind, but they were in danger of surrendering points to the league's bottom club, against the backdrop of both championship challengers, Arsenal and Manchester City, winning their respective midweek ties. The ability to cope so quickly in the Premier League's pressure cooker, for such a new composition, has been remarkable.
Mac Allister is often the coolest customer on the pitch, as evidenced by his cultured through ball to tee up Mo Salah for the decider against Brighton last weekend. The seventh time Liverpool have come from behind.
Much can be said for Klopp's management mindset, too. The 56-year-old was always a big advocate of the five-sub rule - makes sense, it favours the clubs with sizeable squad depth - but its actual implementation is not so straightforward. Klopp's mastery of tactical changes mid-match has allowed Liverpool's many tools to be deployed to maximum effect at key junctures in games.
"Klopp has utilised the five-sub rule better than anyone," wrote Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher this week. Liverpool have benefited from a league-high 24 goal contributions from substitutes across this season.
And, to be clear about Liverpool's intent with the title run-in so delicately poised, they have won more matches (16) and scored more goals (59) in all competitions in 2024 than any other side across Europe's big-five leagues. Compelling.
As a result, they enter the eight-game run-in favourites to win a second Premier League crown, according to Opta's prediction model.
Squad flex will be crucial to any success. Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo are all examples of players regularly making game-changing impact from the bench. Ever-improving Curtis Jones has been useful too. Nunez ranks second for points (five) won via goals (three) as a sub this season, narrowly behind Manchester United's Scott McTominay.
Back in December, after Elliott rose from the bench to steal a stoppage-time win at Crystal Palace, Klopp said the power of his substitutes was the "story of Liverpool's season". Fast forward four months, very little has changed.
Liverpool have now scored 26 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches, 10 more than any other side. Fresh legs and formation tweaks have been central to such a lucrative return.
"I prefer to be 5-0 in the final moments, but that's tricky," Klopp said after beating Sheffield United. "There are different ways to control a football game. What you have to do after 60 minutes is accelerate, speed up, overlap, underlap. We saw that when Robbo [Andy Robertson] came on.
"Super positive, the boys coming on. Really helpful."
Helpful is a seismic understatement. Klopp's outgoing legacy may well be shaped by his boys from the bench. 'Impact players' - the contemporary term for subs - have earned Liverpool 18 points so far, the most of any side. And then comes the juggernaut: the fact Klopp's reign is ending.
Of course, the impact of the manager's impending departure on the Liverpool dressing room is hard to calibrate without being inside those walls, but Trent Alexander-Arnold described it aptly as "the last dance" on Sky Sports last weekend. "We all owe something to the manager, no matter what," he said. "He deserves the best send-off possible."
A debt to be repaid, perhaps.
Whatever the motivation, players are playing for him and its reaping untold reward, even if - seven times and counting - they have been forced to do it the hard way.
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