Having been losing some of the steam off-late, Liverpool has faced some criticism from the pundits and fans for not being their lethal selves. Keeping that in mind, club captain Jordan Henderson has stated that the players should answer their critics on the pitch instead of complaining about it after the full-time whistle.The Reds surrendered the lead at the summit of the Premier League when they drew against fierce local rivals Everton this weekend and may believe that Jurgen Klopp’s outfit has bottled the title.
This has been the case over the years whenever the Reds have led the top flight of English football, they have failed to showcase the consistency and retain their lead at the top. Manager Jurgen Klopp is yet to win a title with the Reds and he will surely want that to change soon and there is nothing like winning the league.
The Anfield faithful will be hoping that their 29-year-long wait for a Premier League title does not end in heartbreak when it comes to the next few months. But their fate of winning the elusive title is now not in their hands as Manchester City are leading the pack in England’s top flight at the moment after 29 games. The Reds will be ruing their pragmatic approach to games as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool had the chance to go 10 points clear at the top with a victory against Manchester City early in January but lost to Guardiola’s steamrolling outfit.
Manchester City broke multiple records when they stormed their way to the Premier League title last season as they reached 100 points, creating history in the process. Liverpool have done exceedingly well to stay in such close contention against the Blue half of Manchester this term as the Reds are just one point behind City. However, it’s quite apparent that Liverpool are lacking some firepower in the attacking third and that loss of steam is hurting the team. The defense has been as solid as ever but surprisingly as Liverpool has drawn four of their last six Premier League games handing the lead to the current Premier League champions leading fans and pundits to believe that the Merseyside club is slowly cracking up by feeling the pressure of the title race.
However, Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson has dismissed those suggestions and after the goalless draw against Everton spoke to reporters. The England international said that Liverpool must respond with their talking on the pitch, ”It is no good talking about it, we have to respond on the pitch. There are nine games left so plenty of football to play and it is down to us to do the business on the pitch and win as many games as we can. Football is a lot to do with mentality. Obviously talent, which we have got in abundance, but we need to show mentality in the next nine games, plus the Champions League, that we can achieve what we want to achieve.”
Henderson went on to explain that Liverpool have dropped points off late will keep carrying on the fight until the end, “There have been one or two games where we have maybe dropped below the standards we have set, but overall I think we have given everything and we will carry on giving everything until the end of the season and fingers crossed it is enough to win.”
Guardiola’s City still has to face Tottenham Hotpspur (who were beaten by Southampton today, imagine that) and Manchester United at Old Trafford in consecutive league encounters. Having to balance that being in cup competitions, Liverpool must smell blood and have to pounce on any given opportunity with both hands.
If they are able to make the most out of these favourable fixtures, things can go down to the fire this term. Both teams are fighting neck and neck to add yet another trophy to their tally. Only time will tell though what happens now in this race to finish at the top.
