There is no doubt that when Virgil Van Dijk joined Liverpool there was an instant impact, the team not only looked more assured at the back but the presence of the big man seemed to improve the players around him too. There is an argument that the acquisition of Allison 6 months later is what took the good Liverpool side to a great one and both players have been out of the line up for the side this season.
The first sign of this seasons Liverpool not being the same as last, could arguably have been the first game of the season at home winning narrowly against a newly promoted Leeds side, however throughout the season we have seen Leeds show their prowess, so I think the first major sign is the 7-2 lost to Aston Villa, a game Van Dijk was playing however one Allison was not. The next game against Everton gave Liverpool the chance to turn things round in a big way and the game ended in a 2-2 draw but this was the game that saw Van Dijk injured and sidelined for the rest of the season.
The start of Liverpools run without Van Dijk wasn’t bad, they picked up 22 points in 10 games, dropping just 8 points without their main staple at the back. However when you look at their opponents through this run, Sheffield United, Brighton, Fulham & West Brom being a few, 3 of these 4 teams (all battling relegation currently) took points of the defending champions, something that would not have happened last season. Though these games were played without Joe Gomez who had picked up an injury with England and Trent Alexander Arnold who was injured against Man City, that is 2 more of Liverpools golden back 4 out. Weirdly enough through these 10 games they also drew 1-1 with Man City, beat Leicester 3-0 and beat Spurs 2-1, all opponents who at the time were right around the top of the league. Liverpools make shift centre back partnership being most commonly Fabinho who previously played his games in midfield and Joel Matip.
If the previous 10 games were seen as a bad then the next 14 games taking us up to this weekend are horrible, picking up just 14 points and dropping 28 points, that’s 4 wins, 2 draws and 8 loses moving Liverpool from 1st in the league to 6th. The might of Anfield also fell with their first loss in over 2 years at home, losing to Burnley 1-0 but this is not the only loss at home, they lost a further 5 times, 2 of those being to Brighton and Fulham. A majority of these games being played with a centre back pairing of Henderson, Kabak or Phillips, with a couple appearances from Rhys Williams and Matip, Fabinho returning for the loss against Man City and going straight back on the injury list afterwards, then returning for Chelsea. If Liverpool fail to win their next game against Arsenal it will be mathematically impossible to catch Man City (71) at the top of the table, with Liverpool only being able to get to 70 points if they win their remaining games after that.
The issues Liverpool have had aren’t just in the back line, the formidable front three also haven’t been firing quite the same, though Salah is leading the league on 17 goals, Mane (7) and Firmino (6) are yet to hit double figures. Since scoring 7 past Crystal Palace in December, Liverpool have struggled to score more than 1 goal in 11 of their last 15 games, winning only 1 of those against Wolves. The signing of the former Wolves player Diogo Jota had a positive influence as he picked up 6 goals in 12 games, making 75% of those appearances off the bench, though he like many other Liverpool players this season ran into injury trouble himself in a Champions League game in December.
So is Van Dijk why Liverpool are having problems, sure he was where it all kicked off, but no he is not why they have been losing games, Liverpool have had 14 different centre back pairings this season with not only varied positional experience but Premier League experience too, handing league debuts to Phillips, Williams and Kabak. An argument could be made for a lack of depth but there is no manager in any league that can plan for this many injuries to key central defenders, I think you have to actually credit Klopp with how well Liverpool have done up until more recently.
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