What a difference a few games can make, a season which started on a high with so many signings seems to have reached breaking point with Liverpool just 4 points above the relegation zone, a 3-0 drubbing by their rivals Manchester United and the team could not score a goal to save their lives. Championship run? Laughable to say the least, talk became about surviving the league and staying in the top half.
Cue a few months after the 3-0 loss, Liverpool have risen like a phoenix and are just 5 points behind a top 4 spot, they are playing commendable football, not to the level that was during their crazy run last season. Their new signings seem to be clicking, Markovic, Can and Lallana are doing the business. Their strikers have finally scored and Raheem Sterling looks like the player who was part of the SASAS attacking force from last season, more good news? Daniel Sturridge is back in training and cannot wait to return and Coutinho seems to be playing like a wily Brazilian rather than a haphazard bit part player.
The 3-4-3 formation has clicked beautifully for Liverpool and is partially the reason for the team to be unbeaten in their last 6 games in the Premier League, they have won 4 and drawn 2 out of the games. Lucas Leiva seems to have made his position in the starting XI a surety thanks to his performances and the calmness and stability he provides to the team cannot go unnoticed, the title might be out of their hands by now but can they get to another achievement?
The race for fourth
There are just a couple of things that Liverpool can achieve in this season, either they win the 2 cup competitions and give Gerrard a special farewell or reach 4th in the league and ensure they qualify for the UEFA Champions League. If they do qualify for the Champions League it might be a saving grace for a season that provided so much hope for the Liverpool fans.
Can the Reds win a trophy? Possibly not, they don’t seem to be cut out for the one off game and would rather look to be grinding out a couple of decent results here and there to ensure they continue their unbeaten run in the league and the form of a couple of players would make or break the race for the 4th place in the league.
The new SAS
The return of Sterling and Sturridge as their attacking pair would be a blessing for Liverpool. Sterling has had to carry the attacking threat for the club for most of the season while Sturridge has been injured for most of the season. Once Sturridge comes back into the team, he would ensure that Liverpool can play the slick attacking football and he would not only improve the movement provided by the front line, Sturridge probably is one of the best finishers in the game, keeping him fit would be the most important job the Liverpool backroom staff would have for the 2nd half of the season.
Looking at the rest of the fixtures that Liverpool have, they face tough away ties at Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League but those come in the months of April and May respectively. They play most of the other teams at home and do have quite a few easy looking away fixtures. The big game would be when they face Manchester United in March. If Liverpool continue their good run and other teams continue to drop points, they could easily make it into the top 4. The crucial point would be how well the team plays once Sturridge comes back into the team, if it clicks for them, the 4th place might still be theirs, can they do it? Of course they can, this is the Premier League, anything is possible, well except Liverpool winning the title, sadly it seems.
Picture courtesy: Liverpool FC, BBC sport & Mirror