sport news Liverpool's trip to Manchester United already looks pivotal trends now
All of a sudden, Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford on Monday has developed a rather different feel.
What appeared, after Manchester United’s desperate start, to be a cruel twist in the schedule now feels like a seismic game in both teams’ seasons.
No longer are people wondering how many goals Liverpool will rack up against their hapless rivals. Instead, the pressing question is: can Klopp’s side afford another slip-up?
Liverpool travel to Old Trafford not entirely sure of themselves after drawing their opening games this season
There really should be no reason to panic after two games. Especially when the data suggests Liverpool’s performances merited six points.
But they have only two and this is a league in which margins have become almost impossibly small.
Two of the past four title races have been decided by a single point; in five of the last six seasons, the winners have amassed 93 points or more.
Jurgen Klopp watched his side struggle to put the ball in the back of the net against Fulham and Crystal Palace
Last year, when Liverpool fell a point short of Manchester City, they dropped just 22 points over 38 matches. Defeat at Old Trafford would mean Liverpool have surrendered nearly a third of that tally in just three matches.
They are already four points adrift and few early signs suggest Pep Guardiola’s side will fall well below last season’s levels. Not with Erling Haaland leading from the front.
To think less than three weeks have passed since Darwin Nunez drew first blood in their head-to-head as Liverpool won the Community Shield. Now the striker’s teething problems are among several issues for Klopp to address.
The trip should have evoked memories of last season's 5-0 mauling but instead they travel with an air of trepidation
As the Liverpool boss admitted after Monday’s draw with Crystal Palace: ‘It’s not the start we wanted but two points is the least of our problems right now. It’s really tricky with injuries.’
During the early years of Klopp’s Liverpool tenure, there was perhaps no more sneering critic than Raymond Verheijen, a Dutch coach who worked under Gary Speed with Wales. He argued that Klopp’s methods cause injury.
Verheijen has been rather quiet in recent years as Liverpool have racked up trophies. This week, though, another pest has been chipping away at the Anfield manager.
‘It was like a witch was in the building, every time somebody else had problems,’ said Klopp. ‘Everything went against us, it was crazy.’ The result? Liverpool’s spine is creaking once more.
After two
