Liverpool, with no fewer than ten players absent and another star-man limping off at half-time, ended the weekend no worse off in the title race after beating Burnley, but are now more points ahead in what would have been the aim at the start of the season in what was clearly a transitional season: top four.
And with goal difference currently worth an extra point, the Reds, with 54 points, are essentially now nine points clear of the team in 5th, with two-thirds of the season gone. That’s a huge reversal from a year ago.
On this day in 2023, Liverpool were TENTH, with 29 points, albeit from just 20 games due to the World Cup.
Still, Arsenal were 21 points ahead. (And in four more games this season, have just two more points than they did after 20 games in 2022/23.)
It’s easy to forget that kind of rapid progress as we immediately acclimatise to being or doing better. Like a lobster being boiled, we don’t feel any abrupt sense of anything changing.
Lately it feels like, how “amazing” are Arsenal? And how “magnificent” are Man City?
Thankfully the league table still has Liverpool top. Maybe the Reds are just “lucky”, then? Even with the fewest defeats (both in North London, and neither with eleven men).
Then there’s “sensational” Spurs, seven points behind, in 4th (or eight, if you look at GD).
So, the Reds are quietly progressing, after the tumult of Jürgen Klopp’s announcement. Even without Mo Salah, the Reds are averaging about three goals per game, but it’s one more player who couldn’t be called upon in the big match last week.
I always love Andrew Beasley’s stats on the severity of the Reds’ injury list vs outcomes. It shows just how much of a challenge the disruption is, as you can rarely field a balanced team.
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