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Back in February, Liverpool slipped away from Selhurst Park after a goalless draw, six points adrift of the top four.
In the aftermath, manager Jurgen Klopp spoke candidly about how there would be ‘no big movies’ made about their season but they would ‘have to go through it anyway’.
It was four days after a 5-2 defeat by Real Madrid at Anfield had all but ended their hopes of major silverware for the campaign. ‘This will not be the season in the history books people want to look at again and again,’ said Klopp.
Not since May 2022 had Klopp’s men finished a day top of the tree. This display was unconvincing but there is a resilience and ruthlessness about Liverpool.
Alisson says Liverpool’s hunger to win the title was what inspired their win over Crystal Palace
Harvey Elliott scored a brilliant late winner to claim the three points for the visiting side
Their goals came after Jordan Ayew had been sent off, from their only two shots on target, with Klopp admitting it was a ‘really bad performance’ until Mohamed Salah’s deflected 76th-minute equaliser. They have won 18 of their 37 points from losing positions this season — more than any other team — and their sole league defeat came against Tottenham in the infamous game in which they went down to nine men and Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed.
With 12 goals in the last 10 minutes of matches, they keep finding ways to get the job done.
If there were any doubts over their ambitions, goalkeeper Alisson put them to bed on his return to the side, following three games out through injury. ‘Our target, our goal, is winning the league,’ said the Brazilian. ‘A winning team needs that mentality to keep on coming from behind.’
The core of the title-winning side from 2019-20 remains but this season Klopp has rotated freely, making an average of 2.6 changes between league games. Only Brighton (4.5) and Nottingham Forest (2.9) have mixed it up more. Across all competitions, Klopp has made 138 changes across 23 games, comfortably more than any other side.
Elliott’s last-gasp strike prompted wild celebrations from the Liverpool team at Selhurst Park
With a freshened-up squad, the ‘Liverpool reloaded’ Klopp spent much of the summer talking about have the quality and the hunger to compete on all fronts. At Selhurst Park, the introduction of 20-year-old Elliott off the bench made the difference.
Klopp said: ‘The subs were super influential. That’s the story of the season so far. When we bring players from the bench, it has a real impact. I love this team and I’m super-positive about it.’
After a trip to Union Saint-Gilloise in Brussels to conclude their Europa League group, three games in seven days at Anfield await, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham sandwiched between the visits of Manchester United and Arsenal.
Liverpool have a 100 per cent record at Anfield this term. United last won there in 2016, Arsenal in 2012. Win those two and they would be top at Christmas. And though Arsenal and Aston Villa are to be feared, there is the chance to open up a gap to Manchester City — who only have one Premier League game between now and Christmas.
The match swung in Liverpool’s favour after Jordan Ayew was sent off after a second yellow
Mohamed Salah became the fifth player ever to reach a double century of goals for the club
Elliott said: ‘Yeah, absolutely (we need to capitalise on City’s patchy form). They can achieve anything.
‘They’re a world-class club with many achievements but so are we. We need to be selfish, keep getting points on the board and winning games. The aim at the start of the season was to win the Premier League.’
Salah, who scored his 200th goal for Liverpool, added: ‘We can do something special this year.’
Whisper it, but Klopp’s mentality monsters are back and Liverpool’s campaign may just be about to take flight.
