Tired of finishing second best to Manchester City, Liverpool took revenge on the English champions with a 2-0 victory at the Etihad on Sunday to strike a potentially decisive blow in the Premier League title race.
Arne Slot’s men enjoy a commanding 11-point lead over second-placed Arsenal, whose 1-0 home defeat to West Ham on Saturday realistically ended their challenge to win the league for the first time in 21 years.
Liverpool know themselves the pain of such a drought despite being one of the giants of the English game.
Thirty years passed between their 18th top-flight title in 1990 and 19th in the coronavirus-impacted 2019/20 season.
Now they are on course to match Manchester United’s record of 20 thanks to a Slot’s smooth transition as the successor to Jurgen Klopp.
The German seemed an impossible act to follow after his emotional Anfield goodbye at the end of last season.
Klopp led Liverpool out of the wilderness back to the top of the English and European game during a nine-year spell in charge.
“No-one saw us as a title contender when we started in the beginning of the season,” said Slot on the common perception of the impact Klopp’s departure would have.
However, Klopp left behind a core of Premier League winners in 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,” said Salah.
Klopp crucially also oversaw a rejuvenation of the Liverpool squad in his final 18 months with the signings of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo to allow Slot to hit the ground running.
That rebuilding process is what now lies ahead for City.
Pep Guardiola has dominated English football since he arrived as City boss in 2016, winning six of the last seven Premier League titles.
This season they have been a pale shadow of their former selves to fall 20 points behind Liverpool down in fourth.
City splashed out GBP170 million in the January window on four new signings, three of which, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov, started on Sunday.
Guardiola has hinted at more big money arrivals in the summer as he looks to get back on top but was at least heartened by his side’s performance.
In stark contrast to recent thrashings by Arsenal and Real Madrid to exit the Champions League in midweek, City forced Liverpool to defend for large spells.
“If you lose, you have to lose the way we lost today,” said Guardiola.
“I saw many things that this club has a bright future with the players that we have.”
City badly missed the presence of Erling Haaland up front to make their dominance of possession show on the scoreboard.
By contrast, Liverpool have Salah in the form of his life despite the ongoing speculation over his future.
The 32-year-old could be nearing the end of his career on Merseyside with his contract expiring at the end of the season, but is determined to go out with a bang.
Salah has scored 30 goals and provided 21 assists in 38 appearances this season.
“I think the numbers speak for itself,” added Slot.
“Today, there weren’t that many moments we could bring him in promising positions, but moments that we gave him the ball in those positions, he was every time a threat.
“That probably tells you even more the quality player he is, because it’s not so easy for an attacker if he has to defend and then he gets the ball and does something special.
“That’s sometimes difficult, but at the moment, not many things seem difficult for Mo.”
Slot has also made the Premier League look easy to make himself an instant hero of the Anfield faithful.
AFP
