Will Liverpool ever return to former glory?

FOR a team that has won the title 18 times and is the second most successful club in the history of the English game its quite staggering that Liverpool FC hasn’t celebrated a league title since 1990 and is yet to have a Premier League trophy in the Anfield trophy cabinet.

In the 1980s and 90s the Reds dominated domestically with the likes of Ian Rush and John Barnes but despite no league title, they’ve still won FA Cups, League Cups, UEFA Cups and Champions League trophies and any talk of a downfall is a little way off the mark just yet.

Under Brendan Rogers the Reds’ came so close to winning the Premier League in 2013-14 after the dream died on an awful night at Crystal Palace and a Steven Gerrard slip costing them against Chelsea and since then they haven’t done much by way of a title challenge.

Rogers was sacked in October 2015 leaving his side languishing in 10th place in the table and in the game the man who many believed and I still do is the only man to bring the good times back to Anfield is Germany’s Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp was the loveable, charming, tactical astute manger that was going to bring the good times back and it didn’t go according to the script in his first season but he did recover from the mess Rogers left him in to finish in his first season in charge in fourth place.

The start of the current campaign got off to a flying start with a win at Arsenal and they were slashed to clear second favourites in the Premier League betting then it came down to earth with a bang with a defeat at newly promoted Burnley and that has been the problem with this Liverpool side under Klopp, they seem to slip up on far too many occasions against the lesser sides in the division.

FAR TOO INCONSISTENT

No side has lost more times when odds on in the Premier League this season than the Reds’ and no side has won more times against the top six teams than Liverpool and unless they can change those inconstancies then they will be waiting another 27 years for a title.

Since the start of 2017 the wheels have come off another title challenge with loses at home to Swansea and away at Hull and sandwiched in between were a couple of embarrassing Cup defeats against Southampton and Wolves in the FA Cup at Anfield which leaves them empty handed for yet another season.

Klopp has been unlucky as his side really struggled without their talisman Saido Mane when the former Southampton forward missed those defeats when he was away at the African Cup of Nations and the only criticism of Klopp for me in his tenure at Anfield has been the lack of quality that they’ve invested in much needed talent.

It’s obvious for all to see that they are crying out for a World class forward and a top notch goalkeeper as well and both will be addressed in the summer with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund heavily linked for a return with his former manager and England stopper Joe Hart looking to return to the Premier League, if they can get those two key positions sorted then I am certain that Klopp will get the job done, otherwise it’s another couple of seasons of Europa League football and embarrassing defeats against bottom half Premier League clubs.

Author bio:

Nigel Seeley is a betting expert for The Sun and was also a former employee on the Racing Post sports desk and has contributed on TalkSport and Sky Sports News on numerous occasions.