The Reds have a city within walking distance
A landslide victory brings Klopp back to the title race
02/23/2022 at 11:15 pm
For a long time it looked as if Manchester City were unchallenged in defending their Premier League title. Pep Guardiola’s team seems untouchable. But due to the interruption of a long streak, Liverpool FC is bringing itself back within close range.
Liverpool with coach Jurgen Klopp once again very close to the leaders Manchester City in the English football championship. The Reds won a catch-up match in the 19th round against the weak and completely knocked side Leeds United 6-0 (3-0) and reduced the gap against the Citizens to three points. At the beginning of April, both teams met in a head-to-head duel. At the beginning of the year, Liverpool were 11 points behind Manchester City.
Liverpool made things clear in the first half: star Mohamed Salah scored two penalties (15/35), and former Schalke player Joel Matip scored his first goal of the season (30) for the clearly superior host. In the second round, African Cup winner Sadio Mane (80/90 + 1) and defender Virgil van Dijk (90 + 3) increased.
Leeds coach Marcelo Bielsa served well: “In the second half we knew it would be difficult to play a balanced match, but we wanted to avoid what happened in the end,” said the Argentine, refusing to make any excuses for them. Cruel gossip. “You cannot explain a result like today as failure.”
“Great game”
Jürgen Klopp was, of course, satisfied after this scene. Until the ecstasy: “The big game. Best for the people – we’re in really good shape. Great game at Anfield. Leeds had good stages but it’s really hard to play like them for 90 minutes, especially against an opponent like the United States.”
Klopp earned extra praise for two of his players: “Mohamed Salah played a really good game, really,” the German coach told Sky. The world coach was more enthusiastic about Senegalese Sadio Mane: “Sadio’s match was one of his best. The way he played in the middle – it was very impressive.”
However, the race to catch up with Manchester City is stalled for the time being: Liverpool FC play for the League Cup, their first title of the season, on Sunday. Thomas Tuchel with Chelsea is waiting for the Reds at Wembley. Manchester City can return to local rivals Everton on Saturday and bring the gap back to six points – at least for the time being.
“We’ll try it”
“It’s three points by the end of the week, City will probably win and then six points,” Klopp confirmed. “I think it’s better for people to go three or six points than 20 or 30, so it’s more exciting, but we have to win a lot of games against difficult opponents and that’s going to be a tough job. We’ll do our best. It’s an attempt.”
Everton, who Liverpool think should become the next stumbling block for leaders Manchester City, are battling relegation by two points over the relegation rating. “I said weeks ago that we need to score a lot of points and our opponents are very good,” Guardiola said last time after the tumultuous game against Tottenham. 2:3, in which his team initially tied in injury time, but then lost, only opened the door to Liverpool’s title race again. “There is something important for every team: the championship, the Champions League, the European League or staying at the top.”
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