It had to happen sooner or later, after all, going a Premier League season unbeaten is incredibly difficult. Arsenal achieved it more than a decade ago, but things are tougher for Liverpool now.
Let’s forget about that invincibility tag for now and focus on the loss to Manchester City. The Reds have seen their lead cut down to four points, though it could have been 10, had we won.
Manchester City celebrated at the end of the final whistle like they had won the Champions League, something that Pep Guardiola is yet to do with them, but Liverpool have more about them this season.
The Reds might have been second best in the scoreline but we were more than a match for City, and still hold the cards for the remainder of the season.
Liverpool could have easily won at the Etihad
We were close to scoring the opening goal of the game and had that gone in, things would have been different. In fact, once Jurgen Klopp shifted from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1, we were in the ascendancy and scored via Roberto Firmino.
There was a mad scramble late on as we looked for the second equaliser, and Ederson had to come up trumps to deny Mohamed Salah.
Manchester City didn’t hammer us, they didn’t destroy us, they barely made a dent in our side and got two goals from our mistakes.
Liverpool didn’t capitulate to a 5-0 loss like last season, and that bodes well as we look to restart our winning run.
Liverpool can concentrate on the season
The loss also meant that tag of going unbeaten went off our list, and now we can concentrate on the season. Klopp has to take it one game at a time, and that has worked well for us so far.
Losing to City wasn’t a big tragedy and we still hold a four-point lead over them. We don’t need to go unbeaten and try to do an Arsenal, what we need to do is win the Premier League.
The Reds have been wonderful for 21 games, and having just one loss to the tally isn’t a bad record. Liverpool will drop points, there is no doubting that for the rest of the season, and getting the first Premier League loss in should provide more motivation to do well for the rest of the campaign.
Easy fixtures coming up
The Reds don’t have the most testing fixtures over the next 30 days or so. Brighton, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Ham and Bournemouth are our next five Premier League opponents, and we should be targeting 12-13 points easily from these clashes.
Manchester City have a truckload of games due to their Carabao Cup commitments, and there is more than a chance of us extending our lead over the next five ties.
Even if we don’t play to our best, we should remain unbeaten over these five games. The FA Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers is a bit of a distraction, but we should play the kids and not think about the cup too much this season.
The Reds also have a pretty strong team when it comes to depth, and our options in midfield should be enough to continue our development for the rest of the season.
There is a belief in this side that hasn’t been seen in the Premier League years, and Klopp has to provided credit for that.
The job isn’t complete at Anfield and our response against Brighton will be key to how we do, but I am confident of this team keeping its cool and finishing the season close to the top.
