For the first time in Liverpool’s 132-year history, distinguished and draped in honours, 11 matches from 12 have been won to start a campaign, with the club’s six successive away victories since August equally setting a significant record.
RB Leipzig, unbeaten in the Bundesliga, were put to the sword in Germany despite threatening throughout their Champions League clash, allowing Liverpool to claim their third continental win on the trot.
To think that Merseysiders had failed to bring in a new midfielder this summer, as had been the plan as Arne Slot settled into the chair, also neglecting ostensible fragilities at the back, and have still emerged as the most in-form team across Europe’s top five leagues is quite a thing.
The winter period looms large. There are many top teams both domestically and abroad who will seek to stifle Slot’s success, but the Dutchman’s Reds will continue to fight for silverware to the last.
27/10/24
Arsenal (A)
Premier League
30/10/24
Brighton (A)
Carabao Cup
02/11/24
Brighton (H)
Premier League
05/11/24
Leverkusen (H)
Champions League
09/11/24
Aston Villa (H)
Premier League
Darwin Nunez stepped up big time to score and put in a big performance against Leipzig, but Liverpool owe much to the continued rebirth of Ryan Gravenberch, with Mohamed Salah’s ceaseless output proving vital, yet again.
Salah & Gravenberch continue to thrive
Let’s get to Salah in a moment. We have Gravenberch to discuss first. Against Leipzig, yet again, the rekindled midfielder showcased his quality in the middle of the park, battling hard in a fierce war of attrition
It wasn’t his finest performance, but the 22-year-old’s energy and press resistance were both on full colourful show against the German side. So alert to potential threats, the Netherlands international made a crucial intervention early into the second half and looks like he’s shaping into one of Europe’s finest number sixes, playing a role that no one envisaged last year.
Liverpool’s promising start to the season has since developed into something more special, and with every passing fixture, Gravenberch continues to prove his worth in Slot’s system. It’s like he’s been tailor-made for it.
Minutes played
90′
Touches
76
Accurate passes
60/63 (95%)
Long balls
2/2
Tackles
3
Interceptions
3
Clearances
1
Blocked shots
2
Total duels (won)
7 (5)
Peter Gulacsi was fantastic for the hosts, making seven saves and repeatedly denying the hungry Reds. The one-time Liverpool reserve goalkeeper denied Salah and saved three shots from Nunez, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Slot machine from ploughing forward.
It bears testament to Salah’s almighty skillset that he had a bit of an off day, failing to win a duel or complete a dribble, while still playing a crucial part in the match-winning moment, setting up his Uruguayan teammate.
That’s seven goals and seven assists apiece for the 32-year-old this season, whose £350k-per-week contract is entering its final stretch, heightening Liverpool’s fears of a departure by the end of the campaign.
It’s an eventuality that feels inconceivable. Unacceptable. Salah is still Liverpool’s main man in the final third, so influential and indomitable in his prolific ability. Alongside Gravenberch, the Egyptian has been one of the players of the season for sure.
He hasn’t quite been the cream of the club’s crop, however. Slot will have nestled into sleep in Saxony last night, where the squad remained until the morning, but awoken with a fresh solemnness that derives from the driven coach’s knowledge that the mountain yet scaled is vast and vertiginous.
Liverpool have it all still to do. Attack might win you games, as the axiom has it, but it is your defence that wins you titles. Virgil van Dijk has hardly been away from the pantheon of modern centre-backs over the final years of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure, but he’s back with a vengeance this season and is spearheading the revolution at Anfield.
Virgil van Djik has been Slot's hero in 24/25
12 matches, 11 victories, seven clean sheets. Liverpool conceded mere minutes into their Champions League campaign following fine work from AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic, but they rallied to win that one 3-1 and have since claimed slender but significant victories over Bologna and Leipzig.
Van Dijk has been imperious. Liverpool’s vanguard might be earning praise for its potency in the final third, but let’s take a minute to hail the backline, leaps and bounds above its level under Klopp, where the gegenpressing nature of the style perhaps negated defenders from making the most of their acumen.
Penny for the thoughts of rivals who had written Liverpool off, consigned them to the wastebasket following the end of an era. One tenure might have taken its final breath but the body of the outfit has been given new life, and it is thriving.
In Germany, the Liverpool and Netherlands captain was the cement of his side’s football, keeping it together against a talented Leipzig frontline, swatting the danger away like a fly, barking at those around him, organising, marshalling, leading.
Duly rewarded with an 8/10 match rating by This Is Anfield, Van Dijk, 33, didn’t catch the eye as his robust partner did, and in fairness, hat tipped to Ibrahima Konate for yet another remarkable display.
Oh how he counterbalances Van Dijk’s style, melding together to form one utterly ridiculous defensive wall that has foiled all but Nottingham Forest this season. The one blot on the copybook. The lonely blemish that Slot cannot shake from his mind, revealing a layer of this man’s determined mind.
But Konate’s flashy athleticism and spatial awareness, as eye-catching as it was, were not mimicked by Van Dijk because the skipper’s intelligence and anticipation are almost prescient.
Both of his duels were won at the Red Bull Arena, and it was indeed Van Dijk who claimed more touches of the ball (81) than any other player on the pitch, having recorded a standout 95% pass accuracy.
Partner such facts with his expertly-saved header, and domination in possession, and it’s really not hard to piece together the focal point of Liverpool’s success this season.
Van Dijk is simply the best, and he proved once again on Wednesday evening that he is the driving force behind Liverpool’s pursuit of glory this year.
He’s been Slot’s main man. Van Dijk is playing with unparalleled verve and the wiseness of one who has been around the block many times, but still craving another taste of the pinnacle.
Winning one of football’s biggest prizes would surely consolidate his name, but just take a look at his performances. He’s the best in the world.
As bad as Trent: Slot must drop 6/10 Liverpool star who lost the ball 13x
Liverpool made it three wins from as many games in the Champions League in Germany last night.
ByEthan LambOct 24, 2024