They’re 20 points clear at the top with eight games left but believe it or not, some Liverpool fans are actually worried they won’t win the Premier League this season.
A sluggish Liverpool side laboured to a goalless draw in their first match of the restart, while second-placed Manchester City have hit the ground running with 3-0 and 5-0 wins respectively.
But it’s still very much the Reds’ title to lose as they require just five more points to win a first league title since 1990.
They can take a huge step towards winning the trophy fans crave when they entertain Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
It seems a simple enough task – Liverpool have won 27 out of 30 league matches this term after all. However, Palace have become something of a bogey team over the years.
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In 1990, the Eagles produced one of the great shocks in FA Cup history when they beat Liverpool 4-3 in the semi-finals, Alan Pardew getting the decisive goal.
In more recent times, who can forget when Palace effectively ended Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes in 2013/14 with a 3-3 draw at Selhurst Park? The result is made all the more traumatic for Liverpool by the fact they were 3-0 up with 78 minutes on the clock.
A year later, Steven Gerrard’s final match at Anfield was ruined by a Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie-inspired Palace, who won 3-1.
Jurgen Klopp’s first match against the south London side saw Liverpool get beaten 2-1 at home in November 2015. The result clearly irked him as he said in a press conference weeks later: “I cannot forget this f****** loss against Crystal Palace.”
And in April 2017, Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League suffered a setback when they were beaten 2-1 by Palace, former Red Christian Benteke getting both goals.
Liverpool’s team against Crystal Palace in 2017
GK: Simon Mignolet
RB: Nathaniel Clyne
LB: James Milner
CB: Joel Matip
CB: Dejan Lovren
DM: Lucas Leiva
CM: Emre Can
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum
RW: Roberto Firmino
LW: Philippe Coutinho
ST: Divock Origi
SUB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
SUB: Alberto Moreno
SUB: Marko Grujic
It didn’t prevent Liverpool from getting into the Champions League spots as they clinched fourth spot ahead of Arsenal, however.
Amazingly though, this was the last time Liverpool tasted defeat at Anfield in the Premier League, they’ve come a long way in those three years…
As the stat would suggest, Anfield is now a fortress – Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Xherdan Shaqiri and Mohamed Salah have never experienced a defeat in the league at Anfield in Liverpool colours.
These players, as well as other signings made by Klopp in earlier transfer windows, have moulded Liverpool into one of the best teams in the world.
Their first season back in Europe’s premier club competition saw them reach the final but they were beaten by Real Madrid in Kiev.
But that hurt became jubilation twelve months later as the Reds lifted the iconic trophy for a sixth time as they got the better of Tottenham in Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano. The triumph came after Klopp’s side amassed their highest ever points total in a league season (97) but just missed out on the title to Man City, who got 98.
This season, they’ve added the Super Cup and Club World Cup to their collection but did have a blip just before the season was halted as they were knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League in March.
Off the pitch they’ve made immense strides too. The CIES Football Observatory ranks them as the most valuable squad from Europe’s big five leagues.
But most importantly, Liverpool have been streets ahead of everyone else in the league.
They can’t mess this one up even if Palace get a result at Anfield, surely…
