A drowning sense of déjà vu is creeping up on Liverpool. By dropping precious points in recent weeks, the Reds now have Manchester City breathing down their necks, with the lead being reduced to three points. During Christmas, it seemed destined to be Liverpool’s year as they established a 10-point gap. 2019 hasn’t been kind enough.
Not only is the pressure of the title race seemingly getting to them, Liverpool are also being found out for becoming somewhat predictable in games. Jurgen Klopp, known for popularizing heavy-metal football, needs to shuffle things around to reignite his side’s lethality going forward.
The German gaffer could change up his system to look similar to what the Reds displayed against West Ham, playing Mohamed Salah on the right and Roberto Firmino down the middle. The Brazilian striker’s more threatening down the middle and Salah loves roaming into the middle from the right.
With the Reds having a handful of big oppositions remaining in the Premier League, Klopp could also start Xherdan Shaqiri behind Firmino to give more aggression to his attack. The Reds also need churn out hard-fought victories more often. If they need to be more aggressive and dirty, then so be it.
The Reds should also put less emphasis on a possession-game and look for more counter-attacks, especially away from home where oppositions are more vulnerable to it. Rather than tinkering with different lineups, Klopp needs to stick with a winning formation to end Liverpool’s stigma and finally lift the Premier League trophy aloft.
The pressure is on the German and he certainly needs to come up with something quick in order to ensure Liverpool bring the ultimate prize in English football to Anfield for the first time in 29 years. If he can’t, considering the money spent of late, serious questions will surely be asked.
