“Anfield Kop End” by Polo Metz (CC BY-SA 1.0)
Going into round four of the Champions League group games, Liverpool put themselves in pole position in group C, and knew a win away in Serbia would further cement that. However, a 2-0 shock defeat at the hands of Red Star Belgrade has completely turned the group on its head, and Liverpool now appear to be in a very tricky position with just two games to go.
As the group stands, Napoli are top with six points, Liverpool join them on the same number while PSG are just one point behind with five. Up next for Liverpool, a trip to face the number one seed in the group, PSG. While that tussle is going on, Napoli will be hoping they can beat Red Star to maintain their lead at the top, although they did draw in Serbia when the sides met for the first time so they have to be wary of that.
A Napoli win would put them onto nine points and, should PSG do the same, they would be on eight, leaving Liverpool in third place with six points on the board. That would leave Liverpool outside of the qualification spots and staring at a Europa League place with just one game to go.
“Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp” by Дмитрий Голубович (CC BY-SA 3.0)
One positive for Liverpool is that their final game is at home against Napoli, and they may need to call upon the crowd to help them recreate a memorable Anfield night if they are to make it to the knockout round.
However, Liverpool should not even be thinking about that game until they have faced PSG, which takes place at the end of the month. The latest football betting has PSG as the 19/20 favourites to win that game, with Liverpool at 5/2. That shows the size of the task ahead for Jurgen Klopp’s men; it certainly isn’t going to be easy for them.
Something that will trouble Liverpool fans is the manner of their defeat in Serbia, which was very disappointing to watch. Liverpool conceded two early goals in their defeat, which was always going to be difficult to recover from, but they failed to create many opportunities.
With players like Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firminho, they have one of the best attacking lineups in the world but, despite having a lot of the ball, Liverpool failed to do much with it. These players are expected to carry Liverpool forward and, when the going gets tough, they are expected to rise to the challenge and find a way through. They didn’t against Red Star Belgrade and they cannot afford for that to happen to them again.
Things looked very promising for Liverpool ahead of the game in week four but, now, heading into week five, they find themselves in a very tricky position and one that could get a whole lot worse with a loss in France. It is time for Liverpool to dig deep and show what they are made of in the Champions League, otherwise, an early exit could be on the cards.