Liverpool, having successfully strengthened their midfield, started the Premier League season with a draw against Chelsea on the opening day of the season.
Although the opening match against Chelsea ended in a draw, Liverpool has since accumulated three points and is currently in third place. Despite a seemingly good start to the season, the Liverpool team has struggled at times.
Against Bournemouth, Alexis Mac Allister was sent off due to an inexplicable red card. Virgil van Dijk was sent off in the following game against Newcastle. Against Wolves, they had a disastrous first half, partly due to the international break, but they got the whitewash in both games.
In their next match, against West Ham at Anfield. The London-based club, which has been on a roll this season, remained undefeated until losing to Manchester City in the previous game and is currently in sixth place from the top.
Ahead of the match against West Ham, who are destructive from corner kicks and also possess quick but powerful counters, Jurgen Klopp praised his opponents, but stressed that his team must perform at their best.
“I don’t know, I don’t know where we are exactly because we showed these kind of different phases. But obviously the things we went through now already in this season, that’s usually enough for a whole season if you have done these things after 38 games, and we have it after five – twice red card, 10 men, turning games and these things. And now [we] did it again, played a really bad half and a very good half and turned it around again [against Wolverhampton Wanderers]. Again, it’s not what you plan, it’s not what you want. But when you have it, you have to go through it and that’s what we did. So, it shows just the boys already together in a manner and in an extent we probably didn’t expect that early. That’s it. I cannot make any kind of estimate at all how it will look in the next four or five weeks. The only thing what I can do is work extremely hard to make it as positive as somehow possible.”
“But there are so many extremely strong opponents – West Ham is one of them when you see them. Really exciting project as well. I’m happy for David that he really built this team now over a few years. Even with Declan Rice out, they look really good, I have to say. [James] Ward-Prowse, super signing. [Lucas] Paqueta is not a new signing but is a super player. With all the other guys they had already, it looks really solid and that makes it really tricky. And then we have all the other teams – top four, five, six, plus, plus, plus. The way you want to start, the way you want to end, the league is extremely strong. It’s good for the people but it means for us we have to be the best version of ourselves.”