It would be an understatement to say that Liverpool have started 2020 in dominant form – since the turn of the new decade, Jurgen Klopp’s men have won 5 from 5 in the Premier League. During that time, the Reds have conceded just once in the league with the only major blemish on their copybook this month the 2-2 draw at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup.
In fact, the Shrews have scored more goals against the Reds this season than 18 of the 19 Premier League clubs have managed in the league with only Everton scoring twice in the first 24 games. West Ham were the latest to be swatted aside on Wednesday night with David Moyes’ men swatted aside with ease at the London Stadium.
Amid the seeming procession of comfortable, well-crafted victories, it can be easy for some, especially those on the outside looking in, to forget just how incredible this side is. This is a side that could break every record in the book this season and it would take a brave man to bet against that given the Reds recent form.
For starters, no side in Europe’s top 5 leagues has ever started a league campaign in such impenetrable form with the Reds having dropped just 2 points all season. At their current rate, Manchester City’s record of 100 points looks under serious threat with the Reds needing just 10 wins from their final 14 games to equal that mark.
With just over a third of the season remaining, Liverpool’s tally of 70 points is already higher than they recorded in 6 of their last 10 Premier League seasons. Further, even if they do not win another point this season, their current tally would still have seen the Reds finish 6th or higher in each of the past 10 seasons including 4th on 4 occasions.
At the time of writing, Klopp’s men also have more points than Manchester United and Tottenham combined who currently sit in 5th and 6th respectively. Quite frankly, if you are not a Liverpool fan this season is close to unbearable right now – luckily we have no such problems.
On Wednesday, the Reds also ticked off another unique record by beating every other side in a first division campaign for the first time in their history. The win also stretched the Reds unbeaten Premier League run to 41 games, the second-longest winning streak in league history behind Arsenal’s 49 game run in 2003/04.
While the Reds are unlikely to break Manchester City’s record of 106 goals scored or Chelsea’s record of just 15 goals conceded in a single season, the Reds are a happy mixture of both sides. Capable of scoring fantastic goals, Klopp’s men have been most impressive with their backs against the wall and have secured late victories on 6 occasions this term.
Understandably with the team doing so well, some of Klopp’s key men are also on the verge of their own record-breaking exploits with Mohamed Salah now have been involved in the most consecutive Premier League victories in history. The Egyptian has won on each of his last 30 Premier League appearances for the Reds while teammates James Milner (23) and Joe Gomez (21) are also high on the list.
Despite having had what some may label as a disappointing season in terms of goal-scoring, Salah is well on course to register 20 Premier League goals for the third consecutive season. Meanwhile, on the assist tally, Trent Alexander-Arnold sits in second having recently become the first defender in history to register 10+ assists in two Premier League seasons.
Between the sticks Alisson Becker is now joint top of the clean sheet charts despite having missed 8 games this season thanks to a run of 8 shutouts in 9 Premier League games. The Brazilian’s brilliance is matched by Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk in front of him who form an intimidating wall that has been faultless since the beginning of December.
Amongst all this success, it is one of Liverpool’s unsung heroes who has been touted as a potential Premier League player of the year this week. Captain Jordan Henderson has been on a different level in recent weeks and the former Sunderland man’s name is well-deserving of consideration when votes are made over the next month or so.
However, the true beauty of the machine Klopp has lovingly crafted over the past 4 years is that at the end of the day the team is bigger than any individual player. While the likes of Salah and Sadio Mane score the goals and write the headlines, no one player is indispensable to the system which has taken the Reds to the cusp of their first league title in 30 years.
The Anfield Chronicle 