While Liverpool may be hot on the heels of some of the Premier League's early pace-setters, the Reds are not truly in contention to win it all this campaign.
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The saying goes that any league table truly takes shape 10 games into the new season, and with English top-flight sides on the eve of reaching that mark, some are doing surprisingly well. One of them is the Reds. Jurgen Klopp's side are only three points off top spot and the German tactician will likely be looking to mount yet another title challenge. However, this write thinks this is not an achievable reality for the Merseyside outfit just yet.
Liverpool have only been defeated once this season in the league, but even in their victories, they do not exude an aura in their performances that convinces you they could go all the way to lifting the esteemed trophy. A quality they have shown, however, and one that is the hallmark of champions, is resilience.
A couple of times this season, the 19-time English champions have been down to 10 men in matches but, outside of their stoppage-time defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, they have been able to emerge as victors in those games. The fixtures against Bournemouth and Newcastle United in particular are a testament to that, and also illustrates that the team is willing to go through the trenches for one another, something of a trademark of would-be champions.
However, Liverpool is yet to blow any team away in the league. The closest they came was against Aston Villa, when the Midlands side played into the Reds' hands by pressing the six-time European champions intensely. Unai Emery's tactical naivety in that sense saw the EPL giants leave with a comprehensive 3-0 win, but outside of that result, their victories for the most part have been hard-fought. While this strength to be able to whether storms is admirable, these aren't the type of performances you want to see in the campaign's infancy.
Another problem Klopp has is that a large part of the Premier League-winning side from the 2019/20 season have now departed. The likes of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Darwin Nunez have not been a part of any iteration of the Stuttgart native's charges that have had to deal with going head to head with Manchester City for the title.
Like the previous version of the German's side that won it, Liverpool had to endure a gruelling 2018/19 title race before finally ending a three-decade wait for a league title the following season. Arsenal are currently finding out the same thing as it seems that challenging Pep Guardiola's men is a rite of passage of sorts to finally getting one's hands on the coveted trophy.
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Liverpool are still a good team and among the best in the division, and their performances will likely improve the more the players familiarise themselves with one another, but City have made it that every team needs to be imperious and almost flawless if they are going to win the league. At the moment, it just seems that the side from Anfield is currently looking like a team that could reach that level but, right now, are still a season or two away from getting there again.
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