As the ultimate leg of what has thus far been a dire season for Liverpool crawls into view, Jurgen Klopp’s facet method a bundle of matches which have the chance to definitively save or smite the present marketing campaign.
Within the subsequent month, Liverpool face two of the Premier League’s high 4 and return to Champions League motion – the one competitors they’ve practical ambitions of profitable – in arguably the stand-out tie of the spherical of 16.
On Monday evening, the Reds made a wanted return to kind by beating Everton 2-0 within the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Here’s what lies in retailer for Liverpool within the coming weeks.
In latest years, the journey to Newcastle’s St James’ Park has not been essentially the most daunting vacation spot in Liverpool’s diary.
However, the Reds journey north on Saturday 18 February to face a workforce that’s unbeaten at dwelling all season. Eddie Howe’s facet have not tasted defeat in entrance of the Toon Army since Liverpool gained 1-0 final April.
While looking for a spark to reanimate the useless corpse of the European Super League in October, Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez lamented the shortage of historic conferences between Los Blancos and the Reds.
“It turns out we have played Liverpool, a historic team with six European Cups, only nine times in 67 years,” Perez gawked. Don’t fear Florentino, that tally will likely be bumped as much as ten when Madrid journey to Anfield on Tuesday, 21 February at 20:00 (GMT).
As a participant, Patrick Vieira began simply three Premier League victories towards LIverpool in 14 appearances – and a kind of triumphs ended early for the combative midfielder after a second yellow card.
During his transient managerial reign in England’s high flight, Vieira is but to get one over Klopp’s facet. However, the 46-year-old did set Crystal Palace up in a irritating rearguard which earned some extent at Anfield in August.
“Very frustrating, very disappointing,” was how Klopp described the opening dozen minutes which noticed Liverpool concede twice towards Wolves at the beginning of February.
When Julen Lopetegui’s facet journey to Anfield on Wednesday 1 March for the reverse Premier League fixture, It would be the fourth assembly between these golf equipment in 53 days. Liverpool, thanks in no small half to VAR inadequacies and a replay, squeaked by their FA Cup third-round tie with Wolves earlier than slumping to a 3-0 loss at Molineux within the league.
With a derby sport scorching on the heels of this midweek affair, Klopp will not have a lot time to keep away from a repeat of what he described as “the pinnacle of our problems”.
The 211th assembly between Liverpool and Manchester United is more likely to be the primary in a protracted whereas which sees the Red Devils canter into the competition as favourites.
Last season, Liverpool defeated Manchester United dwelling and away by an mixture rating of 9-0 (5-0 at Old Trafford and 4-0 at Anfield). However, Erik ten Hag steered United to the primary victory of his tenure at Liverpool’s expense in August and has chiselled his well-drilled outfit into unlikely title challengers within the intervening months.
The 9 targets Liverpool rattled previous Bournemouth in a sun-drenched Anfield look like a hazy reminiscence of a previous decade. However, that objective glut in August solely marginally deviated from Liverpool’s prolific file towards the Cherries.
In every of their earlier 4 visits to Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, Liverpool have scored not less than three targets (14 in complete). The solely clear sheet Bournemouth have ever earned towards Liverpool got here on dwelling turf again in 1968 when the Cherries stored the likes of Ian St John and Roger Hunt quiet in an FA Cup third-round tie.
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