Liverpool returned to the Champions League this season, but many thought for long that Klopp’s men could achieve much more. The Reds started the campaign very well with away wins over Arsenal and Chelsea in the first five rounds and only one defeat suffered come the end of November. Klopp’s favourite counter-pressing and the top form of Mane, Coutinho, Firmino, Lallana and Wijnaldum made Liverpool a joy to watch in these early months and the Reds were scoring on average just short of three goals per game in the opening 13 rounds.
December brought more joy and after four wins in a row, the last one on New Year’s Eve vs. Man City the Reds were sitting just behind Chelsea and looked like genuine contenders for the title. Unfortunately this was about when the team ran out of steam and also it was seen that the small squad lacked depth and quality options off the bench to be really challenging for the top spot. With Mane playing in the Africa’s Cup of Nations all January and many of the main players feeling tired after the hectic festive period Klopp had to fill the squad with members of the reserves and this was one of the main reasons why Liverpool won just one of their first seven league games in 2017. In this period the Reds also suffered semi-final elimination in the League Cup and an early exit in the FA Cup.
Klopp was really furious that the few signings he had in mind for January fell apart and he simply had to keep working with what he had in hand. One thing Liverpool continued to be was very successful against their main rivals and the Reds actually were the only team in the top six that finished the campaign unbeaten in the ten clashes against those nearest to them. In fact all of the team’s six defeats this season were against teams that finished in the bottom half of the table and better focus could have seen the Reds finishing much higher.
Late in the year Mane, Lallana and captain Henderson got injured and the top four finish was protected only because Coutinho and Firmino remained healthy all spring and kept working really hard both with and without the ball. With just one defeat in their final twelve games of the season, eight wins were achieved in this period, Liverpool did just about enough to finish a point above Arsenal in the battle for Champions League football and now Klopp hopes to add plenty of new players in the summer as his squad needs serious strengthening
