By Philip Dillon
Liverpool were victorious this weekend away to Brighton after two defeats on the bounce.
The Premier League leaders scraped a 1-0 victory at the Amex Stadium thanks to a Mo Salah penalty and the only key thing to take from the game is that Liverpool won. They won in a tough game when questions were asked of them and they won again when they were below par. And that’s something they have failed to do in previous years.
They used to be fragile at the back but the recruitment of Allison and Virgil Van Dijk has given them stability in defence, so much so they have only conceded 10 goals so far and they’ve kept 13 clean sheets already.
Liverpool have had the attacking flair over the last few seasons but they always relied on the fact that they could outscore teams. That’s changed.
Klopp’s defence has continued to perform well despite being ravaged with injuries.
Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren are both out and Joel Matip only made it back for the bench at Brighton so Klopp was forced to play Fabinho out of position at centre back. Typically, the Brazilian did not put a foot wrong, making five clearances, two blocks and he maintained a 100% record in aerial duels.
It was another grind and it was another win and another example of why Liverpool are really ready this year.
Their record against teams outside the top six is one of the key reasons they are having such a successful season.
Liverpool have taken 45 out of 45 points from all their games against teams outside the top six.
A defeat to Brighton could have been viewed as a ‘wobble’ and in previous seasons Liverpool probably would have dropped points. Their title challenge of 2013/2014 was viewed with surprise due to how long it has been since they challenged.
The famous Steven Gerrard ‘we will not let this slip speech’ at Norwich also made the run-in overly emotional.
This Liverpool side are very different to Brendan Rodgers’ title challengers though.
Melissa Reddy explained on The Football Spin that this team have players who have the ability to separate emotion and focus on the task ahead.
“This Liverpool team are calmer, they have a feeling of we are not happy to be here, we deserve to be here,” Reddy said.
“They have killers in the side like Virgil Van Dijk, Allison, Gini Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino, James Milner, people who are able to separate emotion from what they need to go and do.”
If Liverpool continue to grind out results against difficult teams like Brighton they could win their first ever Premier League title.
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