We assume that, if you’re reading this, you have some kind of affiliation to Liverpool Football Club. It’s therefore not a huge leap of faith to believe that you will probably be thinking that the Reds can win the Champions League this season.
Some fans will be understandably cautious but even they must admit that LFC are among the favorites to lift the most famous trophy in European football once again.
It has been an overwhelmingly excellent season to be a Liverpool supporter. The Premier League campaign has been nothing short of incredible, and potentially tricky games in the Champions League have thus far been dealt with commendably.
There is also a Carabao Cup final to look forward to, and the only down points to the season so far have been the shock defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup and the ongoing contract sagas involving Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
There is still a good bit of the way to go this season ,and the players and coaching staff will need to keep their heads and concentrate all the way to the end of the campaign. However, it’s looking like Liverpool might well claim their 20th league title, and now we can reveal why you should be getting ready to accept a MyBookie payout on the Reds winning the Champions League for the seventh time as well.
Improvement Under Slot
When Jürgen Klopp announced just over a year ago that he would be leaving Liverpool, many of us were concerned for the future. The German had transformed the entire way that the team played, perhaps even the rest of the league. His approachability and general personality changed the club in a hugely positive way.
Arne Slot had performed wonders in his native Netherlands but the Premier League is a very different animal to the Eredivisie. However, if anything, the Reds are playing an even more attractive form of football this season and have somehow improved on the high standards that Klopp demanded during his time at Anfield.
Better Attacking
Liverpool fans will forgive most things which happen on the field of play so long as the team gives its all and plays in an attacking manner. The arrival of Slot has delivered on this front, too. He was never going to implement a defensive style of playing, but the attacking element has been more efficient this season.
It is true that LFC’s defenders are seeing more of the ball this term, but that is because the Dutchman has instructed them to be more comfortable in possession. That has inevitably resulted in fewer attacking phases but there has been a more meaningful shot count. A higher percentage of shots are resulting in goals, and that has to be good for the team.
Winning on All Fronts
If we agree to forget about the FA Cup defeat at Plymouth for a moment, this season has been an overwhelming success story. Although the aim of any Liverpool team is to win every competition it enters each year, having the chance to triumph in three of the four at this stage of the campaign has to be applauded.
The Carabao Cup final against Newcastle on 16 March might not be the most important game remaining this season, but it could be the start of something very special. Victory at Wembley could provide a stepping stone for continued success in the Premier League and in Europe. Winning breeds success, and Liverpool are winning quite a lot this year!
Beating the Best
At the time of writing, Liverpool have lost just four games in all competitions this season. One of those was against a resurgent Nottingham Forest side at the beginning of the campaign and another was against Spurs in the Carabao Cup, which was more than compensated for in the second leg.
There was the Plymouth defeat, of course, but the only other loss was in the final game of the Champions League opening phase when progression had already been assured.
That record would be enviable for any club, nut it is the caliber of teams that Liverpool are beating which should really give fans cause to cheer. We’ve beaten title challengers in the league and the likes of AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in the Champions League. This Liverpool side has proven that it can compete with and overcome the very best in England and Europe.
Squad Goals
Positive results have been very welcome this season, but there is another factor to consider if we are wondering whether Liverpool have what it takes to win the Champions League this year. Slot was very keen to identify his best starting XI when he first began at the club and allowed much of the squad the chance to impress with a clean slate.
If you look at the squad statistics for the season as a whole, you’ll see that the Dutchman has utilised his playing pick to full capacity. When an important player is injured – as they inevitably will be at some point of the season – the replacement is more than capable of producing what is required. The strength in depth of the Liverpool squad is frightening for rival clubs.
Champions League Destiny
The greatest ever Liverpool manager never won a European Cup, as it was called prior to the introduction of the Champions League. Bill Shankly lifted countless other trophies with the Reds but not Europe’s premier continental competition, and those managers who did, tended to win them fairly early on in their Anfield career.
Slot has already proved to be worthy of succeeding Klopp and will hopefully go on to enjoy a long and successful career as head coach at Liverpool. He has the opportunity to become part of an exclusive club of Champions League-winning managers this season – and the way things are going, it might be his, and the club’s, destiny to do so.