From now (Top of the League) to Half Season (the next 8 games)

Having reached top of the league, it’s very encouraging to observe the schedule up to the end of 2016 a.k.a half way through the season (19 games).

We have 8 games left to play until then, all of which will test our ability to stay consistent, up until the last of these 8, the one vs City. All bar City are teams that we can better, all bar City are teams that a win against depends mostly on our performance. This is for me the big test right now for the team – to stay consistent.

Screen shot 2016-05-05 at 14.46.12

To just keep being unbeaten, to just keep winning, but most importantly, to just keep playing like that.

The sweetest part that although we are aware of, can’t really realise unless we put it down to visualise, is that in 5 out of those 8 games left, our top 6 rivals play against each other twice, which guarantees one or both of them every time to miss points.

Chelsea twice (Spurs and City, back to back – first home, 2nd away)

City twice (Chelsea and Arsenal at home)

Arsenal twice (United and City – first home, 2nd away)

Tottenham twice (Chelsea and United away)

Man United twice (Arsenal and Tottenham – first away, 2nd home)
If we look at it game by game, it looks like this:

1. vs Southampton (away)
Arsenal and/or United to drop points
(currently +2 points/+3 goals from Arsenal, and +8 points/+13 goals from Utd)

2. vs Sunderland (home)
Chelsea and/or Tottenham to drop points
(currently +1 points/-1 goal from Chelsea, and +5 points/+7 goals from Tottenham)

3. vs Bournemouth (away)
City and/or Chelsea to drop points
(currently +2 points/+1 goal from City, and +1 points/-1 goal from Chelsea)

4. vs West Ham (home)
United and/or Tottenham to drop points
(currently +8 points/+13 goals from United, and +5 points/+7 goals from Tottenham)

5. vs Middlesbrough (away)
no guaranteed points drop from top 6 rivals

6. vs Everton (away)
City and/or Arsenal to drop points
(currently +2 points/+1 goals from Arsenal, and +2 points/+3 goals from Utd)

7. vs Stoke (home)
no guaranteed points drop from top 6 rivals

8. vs City (home)
no guaranteed points drop from top 6 rivals

If we can carry a momentum to the City game, and win that, at home, we are set up very nicely for the 2nd half of the season.
Point being, it’s very much in our hands to get a significant advantage by the end of the first half of the League, if only we can stay consistent and keep winning these games. We also still have the benefit of no european games, unlike all top 6 rivals (bar Chelsea – thanks ZB for reminding me 😉 ).

No one says it will be easy, far from it, and it’s exactly the kind of opponents that are supposed to be our weakness (in that they don’t care to keep possession in order for us to gegenpress and steal it from them, but will be interested in not getting battered, so it will be up to us to find ways to break compact lines of defence).

But it’s the kind of games that will either nurture the champions mentality in us, or show us that we still have some way to go before that.
Very important will be to remember that it’s Klopp’s first full season with us, that top 4 was our target at the beginning of the season, and that our team is still quite new and still quite young.

Stepping stones is what matters, and anything more than 4th place is an amazing achievement and bonus. But one can’t help drooling at the possibility and the excitement that this team brings.

Make us dream, Liverpool!

 

By TheSweetSilverSong

ARIS