Tired of finishing second to Manchester City, Liverpool beat the English champions 2-0 at the Etihad on Sunday to potentially win the Premier League title. Arsenal’s 1-0 home loss to West Ham on Saturday destroyed their chances of winning the league for the first time in 21 years. Arne Slot’s side lead by 11 points.
Despite being English football heavyweights, Liverpool knows the sting of a drought. Their 18th top-flight title in 1990 and 19th in the coronavirus-hit 2019/20 season were 30 years apart. Slot’s easy transition as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement has put them on track to match Manchester United’s 20.
After his tearful Anfield goodbye last season, the German seemed unstoppable. In nine years, Klopp brought Liverpool from the wilderness to the pinnacle of English and European football.
“No-one saw us as a title contender when we started in the beginning of the season,” Slot said of Klopp’s departure’s impact.
However, Klopp left behind Premier League champions Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“Me and the big guys in the team, we need another title,” he remarked.
Klopp also rejuvenated Liverpool’s roster in his final 18 months by recruiting Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, and Cody Gakpo to help Slot start. Since becoming City manager in 2016, Pep Guardiola has won six of the last seven Premier League titles.
They are 20 points behind Liverpool in fourth after a disappointing season. In January, City spent £170 million on four new players, three of whom, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Abdukodir Khusanov, began on Sunday.
Guardiola has hinted at additional big-money summer signings to come back on top, but his team’s performance was encouraging. City forced Liverpool to defend for long periods, unlike Arsenal and Real Madrid’s midweek Champions League exits.
