How does Jurgen Klopp get Liverpool’s season back on track?

Eberechi Ezi scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute as he was left unmarked in the box to get on the end of a low cross from Demetri Mitchell and hand the visitors all three points.

The match marked consecutive defeats at Anfield for Jurgen Klopp’s side for the first time since 2021 and the first time with fans in the stadium since 2017.

A chorus of groans rang around Anfield following the final whistle as the Reds missed the chance to return to the top of the table and now sit two points behind leaders Manchester City.

Planet Sport looks at how Liverpool’s season has unravelled in the last few weeks as the Premier League and Europa League slip out of the club’s grasp.

 

Start taking chances

Klopp promised the fans a response following their embarrassing 3-0 defeat at home to Atalanta in the Europa League last week.

However, they could only muster up a similar performance of that against Palace in the Premier League - once again creating a plethora of chances and failing to score.

Wataru Endo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota all had chances spurned with the best falling to Curtis Jones as he fired wide when found one-on-one with Dean Henderson.

Liverpool’s inability to finish their chances has continued to cost them points all season - Klopp’s side could have recorded Premier League victories over Manchester City, Manchester United and now Crystal Palace and be seven points better off.

According to Simon Brundish of the Under Pressure podcast, Nunez has been the main culprit for the Reds, only converting 18% of his ‘big chances’ whilst Mo Salah and Jota have the highest conversion rate of 50%.

Liverpool have won only three of their last seven outings in all competitions and have missed 23 ‘big chances’ during that run.

 

Be smarter with injuries

Salah has struggled to find his feet since returning to the side after suffering a hamstring injury whilst representing Egypt at the African Cup of Nations in January.

In both the losses at Anfield last week he had next to no impact on the game as play was focused down the left-hand side of the pitch.

Salah and Conor Bradley produced promising moments when the ball fell to them but seemed ignored for the majority of the first half and until Trent Alexander-Arnold was introduced when Bradley was forced off minutes into the second half.

Liverpool’s response in the first half to going 1-0 down was to hoof the ball up towards Nunez with minimal success. It’s hard to understand why Klopp is not instructing his side to use Salah as the focal point of Liverpool’s attacks.

The Egyptian returned from injury, recording a goal and an assist in the 4-1 win away from Brentford in February, but the decision to include him led to Salah missing a further four matches.

Alexander-Arnold suffered a similar fate when he returned to the side for three matches in January before missing a further 12 matches with the same torn knee ligament injury.

Liverpool have been plagued by injuries as they have attempted to challenge on all fronts this season and have relied on youth players to ease the burden on the available first-team players.

This led to the emergence of Jarrell Quansah and Bradley whilst Jayden Danns, Bobby Clarke and James McConnell have impressed when called upon.

But with the side’s downturn in fortunes in recent weeks and the mounting pressure of delivering further silverware in Klopp’s final year in charge, Salah’s recovery from his hamstring injury may have been accelerated in a bid to save Liverpool’s season.

 

Do the basics right

The Reds have gained a reputation for starting games too slow and entering the pitch flat-footed, needing to grow into the match to establish control on proceedings.

The warning signs have been apparent throughout the season, Liverpool went behind for the 21st time in 32 Premier League matches. Since the turn of the year they have only managed three clean sheets in the Premier League.

Liverpool are currently facing the two most daunting tasks in football - an inability to consistently score and an inability to keep clean sheets.

But the most worrying and glaring aspect of it all, is their inability to do the basics.

In the Europa League, Joe Gomez lost possession 21 times, Ibrahima Konate 15 times, Endo 13 times and Dominik Szoboslai 10 times as they were bullied by Atalanta and couldn’t deal with the Italians’ press.

Against Crystal Palace, Liverpool recorded 63 misplaced passes in the first half alone with the damning realisation that the players - much like Klopp admitted when he announced he was leaving Anfield - have run out of steam.

 

Handle fatigue

Captain Van Dijk has racked up 814 minutes of football in the past month, with Luis Diaz second on 697 minutes and Alexis Mac Allister third with 649 minutes.

Klopp admitted in his pre-match Atalanta press conference that he didn’t take off the ‘three worst players’ with his half-time triple substitution, with players showing notable signs of fatigue.

The cataclysmic drop-off in performances from Liverpool can be pin-pointed to fatigue within the squad as senior players have had to play the majority of the club’s fixture congested run-in with a mounting injury list.

Sunday saw the return of Alisson to the starting line-up for the first time since the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in February. With the likes of Alexander-Arnold, Jota and Jones returning to the side, Klopp will be hoping they return to fitness soon and help ease the burden on the squad.

However, Gary Neville spoke on Sky Sports after the match on Sunday and believes Liverpool’s sudden barren form is because the club have overachieved this season.

He said: “ I never expected Liverpool to be anywhere near where they are. If you said Liverpool would be two points off Manchester City with five/six games to go, I’d be like ‘no chance’.

“This is a monumental achievement I think this season for Jurgen Klopp to be where they are.

“I still think that Jurgen Klopp is getting the very best out of this Liverpool team and this Liverpool squad and what we are now seeing is probably what they are. They’ve overachieved to this point.”

 

Manage expectations

The doom and gloom surrounding the team at the moment distracts from the fact that Liverpool are once again challenging for the Premier League title in what was meant to be a season of transition for the club.

Last season brought the curtain down on Roberto Firmino’s illustrious Anfield career with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and veteran midfielder James Milner also leaving Liverpool at the end of their contracts. Former captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho also departed for Saudi Arabia, leaving Thiago as the only senior central midfielder at the club.

With Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Endo and Ryan Gravenberch coming through the door, the Reds were expected to aim for a top-four finish in the Premier League as a new-look midfield settled into life at Anfield.

Klopp has integrated all four into his Liverpool side that are now involved in one of the most exciting title races of recent times.

Whilst the feeling of the fans being that the hard work has been undone by the shambolic performances against Atalanta and Crystal Palace, there is no doubt that Liverpool have overcome expectations with their overall performance this season.

Despite the poor results, Liverpool are still within contention of the Premier League title – two points behind Manchester City and level on points with Arsenal and a favourable run of fixtures compared to their two rivals.

The Reds have lost their advantage in the title race as the loss on Sunday puts the Premier League title in Man City’s hands – but they’ve been in this position before and know that they will now need to win every game available to regain their form and hope that they can end Klopp’s tenure with a second Premier League title.

It all starts in Bergamo against Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday night.

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