Liverpool is on the brink of taking another significant stride towards securing the Premier League title that its players and fans have been yearning for. The Reds host Newcastle United at Anfield with the aim to either maintain or extend its dominant lead at the top.
Liverpool’s 2020 English top flight victory remains a somewhat bittersweet memory as it was a monumental achievement celebrated without fans in stadiums due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, it seems like the trophy could be making its way back to Merseyside in the coming months.
Arne Slot’s team moved 11 points clear at the top after a decisive 2-0 win against defending champions Manchester City on Sunday. The day before, second-placed Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham United.
This has increased the pressure on the Gunners ahead of the match against third-placed Nottingham Forest, which starts 30 minutes earlier than Liverpool’s clash with fellow Carabao Cup finalists Newcastle. Another stumble from Arsenal could spell the end for its hopes of catching up with Liverpool, who has lost just one league game all season.
What makes Liverpool’s achievements even more impressive is that it has only added one new signing to the squad left behind by Jurgen Klopp. And even then, Federico Chiesa has barely played.
After Klopp’s departure, Slot stepped in and has marvelously leveraged the potential of the squad he took over, despite being initially set back by Martin Zubimendi’s last-minute decision to stay at Real Sociedad rather than make the switch to Liverpool. In turn, Slot has shaped Ryan Gravenberch into this season’s Premier League’s standout No.6.
Arsenal icon Ian Wright may well have his own allegiances in the title scuffle, but he can’t help being impressed by Slot’s influence, describing it on The Kelly and Wrighty Show as ‘scary’.
He enthused: “You bring in someone like Gravcarenberch. You know Liverpool was trying to buy Zubimendi at the start of the season because couldn’t fix that particular position. Now, that’s fixed.
“Then, it has just kept on with the momentum and I think that what’s great about it is that Liverpool has not got carried away with anything, you know, everybody’s talking about, ‘oh yeah, but it’s not playing well’ – it doesn’t matter!
“I’ve not seen a game where I didn’t think that Liverpool was going to be able to take someone off the bench and still finish the game. It is total control and it’s quite scary to see, especially when the manager… none of them are his players! He’s come in and he’s coached these players. What’s going to happen when Slot brings his players in, his system, what he wants to play?”