Sport
Which records are Liverpool hoping to break this season?
Anybody hoping for another thrilling, too-close-to-call title race in 2019/20 will be disappointed. In fact there has barely been a title race and, although nothing is a certainty in football, Liverpool do look set to win a first title in 30 years.
Due to the nature of this one-horse race, talk has turned away from the title and towards possible records. With an unbeaten streak that, at the time of writing, stretches 38 matches, talk of invincibility becomes that little bit louder.
Arsenal are the only club to have previously gone an entire Premier League season unbeaten in 2003/04. Although that feat was remarkable, they did draw nearly a third of their fixtures.
Fast forward nearly two decades and the bar has certainly been raised. If not by Manchester City’s incredible centurion campaign, then definitely by the way Liverpool have brushed nearly everyone aside this time around.
So far Jurgen Klopp’s men have played 21 Premier League fixtures and won a phenomenal 20. To be 14 points clear at the top of the table is impressive enough but to dominate the way they have, only dropping two points in the process, is simply mesmerising.
Many thought that December was going to be the month when this red machine perhaps needed a service. With so many fixtures stacked up in a litany of competitions, no-one would have been surprised if more points had been dropped. However, after getting through December unscathed, bar a fringe side getting dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Aston Villa, it is now full steam ahead domestically and in Europe.
One should not forget that Liverpool are still in the Champions League. With the confidence that they are currently exuding, there is no reason to suggest that they cannot reach a third consecutive final and defend their trophy.
Quite simply nothing is off the table for Liverpool this season. With the Premier League all but sewn up, you can forgive fans for eyeing a repeat of the domestic double they recorded back in 1986.
They got better of Everton in the FA Cup Final that year and it was their Merseyside rivals who they dispatched in the third round this time. Impressively, they did so with a crop of highly talented youngsters.
Not only does it suggest that Liverpool have a bright future ahead but it also points to squad depth. Klopp will feel he has scope to bring in a couple in towards the sharp end of the season. Especially if key men need a rest for further massive European nights at Anfield.
Although the future does seem bright for Liverpool, they will never have a better opportunity to smash records than this one. Although Klopp won’t publicly admit that they are gunning for certain streaks, the next target will be to equal Chelsea’s run of 40 league games unbeaten. A record that they set under Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho.
Should Liverpool do that by next week, the focus will shift to Arsenal. Not just matching one achievement, the invincible season, but also beating another. That, of course, being the 49 league games that the North Londoners went unbeaten.
Arsenal made no secret of wanting to get to 50 but were denied that special accolade by their old foes, Manchester United. Without getting too far ahead of ourselves it could prove that another Manchester club, Liverpool’s most recent nemesis, also plays the role of party pooper.
In what is scheduled to be game 49 of the unbeaten run, a trip to the Etihad on April 4th to face Manchester City looms large. Just to add extra spice to this clash, it could also potentially be a title winning encounter.
Should they clear that hurdle and get to the end of the season unbeaten, the run would number 55 matches. From there, the next target is getting to 59. Why 59 you ask? Because the imperious A.C Milan side of the early 90’s dominated Serie A and went on a monster unbeaten run of 58 games between 1991 and 1993.
If they reach that holy grail, Liverpool will have recorded the longest unbeaten run in all of Europe’s five major leagues. In that event there would be no doubt about the magnitude of their achievement.
Liverpool are now on course, not only win to the Premier League title, but also to pick up a record amount of points in the process. If they continue this rich vein of match winning form, they could smash the hallowed 100 point marker. Only one club accomplished that in the past, Manchester City in 2017/18 when they finished with 100 points. If Liverpool’s steadfast refusal to drop points continues, they could end the season with as many as 112.
The way Jurgen Klopp has got his players operating this season, especially after falling agonisingly short last time around, has been almost unbelievable. With a first Premier League title now all but Liverpool’s, the football fraternity are waiting to see just how many records are broken along the way. Then the conversation will turn to where this side ranks among the greatest in history.
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