De Bruyne looks back to his best in pre-season
(Getty)A squad, that is, which has not been reinforced. There is plenty of good reasons behind Liverpool’s quiet
summer transfer window, though the circumstances underpinning those reasons are hardly ideal. Financial
limitations when compared to the world’s richest clubs mean that this year’s title challenge rests on greater
contributions from the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita, as well as support from
youngsters like Rhian Brewster.
And then there is the sneaking suspicion that City are simply the better side. Without going into too much
detail, last season’s underlying statistics suggest there was City, then a large gap. Then there was Liverpool,
another large gap and the 18 other teams eating their dust. The numbers suggest Klopp does not have to
worry much about the chasing pack. Whether he can bridge the gap with City for a second time is another
question.
Sunday will not give us many clues in that regard. Liverpool have already demonstrated that they are
capable of beating City over the course of 90 and 180 minutes. Klopp is, famously, the only manager to have
regularly faced Guardiola and tasted victory more times than defeat. But over the course of the forthcoming
38-game Premier League season? Only one team has consistently finished above his Liverpool: Guardiola’s
City.
For that to change, and for a first-ever Premier League title to finally arrive at Anfield, Klopp must extract a
similar level of performance out of the same group of players who gave everything they had last year and
still came up short. If that is not possible, he needs City to regress somehow, however unlikely that seems.
And if neither of those things happen over the next nine months, he will need an awful lot of luck.