The 2019/20 Premier League season will forever be known as the season that was disrupted by Coivd-19. It was a landmark season in another way too, as Liverpool won their first league title in 30 years to bring the Premier League trophy to Merseyside. Some of the best online football betting sites couldn’t predict Liverpool winning the title, but the big question now is; can they repeat that in the 2020/21 season? We’ll take a look below.
Off to a good start
Jurgen Klopp’s team got off to a flying start to the season with a thrilling 4-3 win against newly promoted Leeds United, followed by a 2-0 win over Chelsea and 3-1 victory over Arsenal. At this point, it looked likely that Liverpool would continue their dominating run that saw them cruise to the title by 18 points in the previous season. Doubts quickly crept in though, as the following two games saw them fall to a shocking 7-2 demolition at the hands of Aston Villa, before drawing 2-2 with bitter rivals Everton. However, they bounced back from those results and went the rest of 2020 unbeaten.
Not so happy New Year
The Reds’ title challenge was back on, but their first game of 2021 saw them lose 1-0 to a resolute Southampton side at St. Mary’s. That result definitely had an effect on the team, as shortly after they fell shockingly 1-0 to Burnley
at Anfield. That defeat took their tally of losses for the season to three, the same amount that they had for the entirety of their 2019/20 title win. A couple of 3-1 wins against Tottenham and West Ham brought some further hope, but their most recent defeat to Manchester City has been their most devastating.
Missing key players
The thing that was most devastating about that Manchester City defeat, despite the 4-1 scoreline, was that it was the final nail in the coffin of Liverpool’s title challenge. Their fifth loss of the season, and their third consecutive defeat at Anfield, now sees them sitting 10 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s side with the Citizens also having a game in hand. One thing that the Reds have had to deal with this season that they didn’t last year, is long term injuries to their most key players. The injury to Virgil van Dijk that occurred in the Merseyside derby in October 2020 has left Klopp scratching his head, trying to find a centre back partnership that works. Fabinho has shown his ability to slot in that position, but so far the Reds have struggled to find a trusty partner for the Brazilian.
Not the force of old
One thing that this season has shown us is that Liverpool are not the force that they were last season. It’s been a strange season for many reasons and it’s difficult to say where the Reds would be in the table had van Dijk not gotten injured so early, but Manchester City are seriously laying down the gauntlet this season and even a revitalised Manchester United side are struggling to keep pace with Guardiola’s superstars. Given the way this season has panned out, it looks highly unlikely that Jurgen Klopp’s men are going to successfully defend their Premier League title, barring a historical collapse from City.
