Liverpool sit at the summit of the Premier League table after 12 games. They have an eight-point lead over reigning champions Manchester City and have a chance to extend that to eleven on Sunday when the two sides face each other at Anfield. While more than 2/3rd of the season is still to play, Liverpool look in a strong position to win the Premier League and their form is almost similar to the last Reds team that won the Premier League in 2019/20.
Jurgen Klopp‘s class of 2019/20 will forever remain etched in the history of Liverpool Football Club. That team ended a 30-year wait for a league title and they dominated their way to the top.
It was a weird season due to the Covid pandemic and the season ended in July rather than May because of more than a three-month break in the middle because of the health crisis. Liverpool fans could not be at the stadium to watch their team lift the Premier League trophy aloft. However, no one can deny that the team were head and shoulders above any Premier League side that season and finished 18 points ahead of runners-up Manchester City in the league table.
Liverpool never quite managed to match that season’s intensity again and Manchester City have dominated the Premier League since then. However, there are signs that Arne Slot’s team could do something special and emulate the heroes from the class of the 2019/20 season. They have been the most consistent team at the start of the season and have looked more or less imperious like that Klopp side from five years back.
Does the start to the Reds’ season stack up to what they did in 2019/20?
Liverpool have won ten of their opening 12 Premier League games this season, losing once and drawing the other one. It is an incredible start to the season and Manchester City’s loss of form has allowed them to build a strong lead at this early stage. However, it can’t be compared with what the Reds did in the 2019/20 campaign.
Klopp’s side just drew one of their opening 12 games and won the other eleven. In fact, they won 24 of their opening 25 league games, which was a staggering record and was the best-ever start to a Premier League season.
Slot’s team have already lost once but it took until 29th February 2020 until Liverpool lost their first league game in that incredible campaign. By the time the Covid break came in March, Liverpool more or less had the title sewn up because of their unprecedented run of form.
Can you name the team Liverpool sold these players to?
Liverpool struggled to match those standards when the season resumed in June and lost twice and drew twice in the remaining games. However, their brilliance until February ensured that they still ended the season with an 18-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. That was a vintage side that would remain a legend in the Liverpool folklore.
Expecting Slot’s side to emulate what Liverpool did five years back would be too much to ask but they have shown the early season form of title winners. Manchester City’s poor form and Arsenal’s inconsistency have put the Reds in the driver’s seat to win the Premier League at the end of the campaign. However, there are far too many games left in the season and the table could look very different if Manchester City produce a shock win at Anfield on Sunday.
However, this Liverpool side have the chance to equal Manchester United’s haul of 20 league titles and a flying start to the season has given them a leg-up. Slot and his team need to ensure that they do not take their foot off the accelerator just like Klopp’s men didn’t in that weird but memorable 2019/20 Premier League campaign.
