Nobody thought at the beginning of the 2020/21 season that defending champions, Liverpool will face such a crisis. Their impressive style of football was meant to dominate for years to come. The team retained all of its superstars from last season's heroics in a wish to land back-to-back honors at Anfield.
Quite the opposite happened with the Reds far from title contention and even sweating to get into the top four. Presently, they sit at seventh place with 46 points. Five points shy of the champions league berth too. So where did it go wrong for Jurgen Klopp's men and will they get into the top four? Let's discuss.
Injury crisis and lack of form
A team suffers a mediocre campaign either of these two causes. For Liverpool, both have hit at the same time. It has cost them to drop points unimaginably. The home ground they used to call fortress has collapsed as Liverpool went from three and a half-season going unbeaten at Anfield to losing 6 in a row. This is a new record set by the Reds but the one surely they will hate. The team that created and broke records so efficiently now finds themselves at the wrong end of breaking apart.
It all began for them when they lost world-class center back Virgil Van Dijk through injury, almost a season-ending one. Strangely, they accumulated more injuries at the same position over weeks with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez also chalked off from any action this season. Midfielders had to step in for that role crippling the rigid system they thrived in. Ozan Kabak's inclusion with Nat Philips and Rhys Williams has helped fill up the role but not the result even though they have been decent.
The front three also went off color at this moment. The deadly trio of Mane, Firmino and Salah no more function as a unit with the Brazilian badly out of form. Klopp's system is also said to be a criminal factor because it drains out the players maintaining a high level of intensity. There are numerous other causes but these are the main ones that contributed to such a massive downfall.
Also Read | Ozan Kabak beginning to settle at Liverpool
Top four chances
Now the question is will they get into the top four despite the ill stagnant run they are in? A squad that has only minimum injury problems to one or two bench players is now struggling with more than one senior player injuries and big ones. Also out of form. But this is Liverpool. Still dangerous like a wounded lion. We can't forget that this squad has won so many silverwares and despite the crisis they sustain a winning mentality.
Maybe their hopes dangle on others to help them get into the top four but with a string of good results, they can rifle themselves back to their best. They lost points against top teams and relegation candidates so it won't be an easy task to set a sudden winning run but they are capable. They also boast a world-class manager in Klopp to get them back on the right track.
Previously, Liverpool has shown they are no new to such a situation and come back strongly from a tough position. That helped them land silverware now a chance for them to have a good run of late and do something impressive. They also have the Champions League to savor with a quarterfinal tie against Real Madrid coming up. A huge month lies ahead.
