That is the sixth half in our sequence charting Jurgen Klopp’s 9 seasons at Liverpool from his 2015 arrival to his upcoming departure from Anfield.
Liverpool would often be within the midst of pre-season preparations within the fourth week of July, however in 2020 they had been rounding off a title-winning marketing campaign at the moment of 12 months, with the soccer calendar thrown out of sync by the outbreak of COVID-19.
It meant that the defence of their Premier League crown started lower than 50 days after the earlier season ended, and even that opening day 4-3 win over Leeds at an empty Anfield got here a fortnight after the Reds misplaced the Neighborhood Defend on penalties for the second 12 months in succession, this time to Arsenal.
Unsurprisingly, Jurgen Klopp modified little of the squad which had romped to the title, though Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Nathaniel Clyne all departed. In got here Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas, Wolves ahead Diogo Jota and – in what appeared an actual coup – Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich.
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Liverpool started the marketing campaign with three wins, however a horrific fortnight in October supplied two main setbacks. The primary was a freakish 7-2 defeat away to an Aston Villa aspect who’d solely averted relegation within the last day three months beforehand.
The subsequent hammer blow got here within the opening minutes of a 2-2 derby draw at Goodison Park when Jordan Pickford’s brutal assault on Virgil van Dijk inflicted an ACL damage which ended the Dutchman’s season. The Everton goalkeeper someway escaped with out a lot as a foul being given towards him.
To their credit score, the Reds responded to these nightmarish occasions by going unbeaten within the Premier League for the remainder of 2020 and, in a welcome distinction to earlier campaigns, wrapping up prime spot of their Champions League group with a match to spare.
Regardless of that, Klopp inexplicably fielded a powerful staff for the ultimate group sport away to Midtjylland, a choice which backfired because the prolific Jota picked up an damage which dominated him out for 3 months.
A rest of pandemic restrictions in December allowed for two,000 followers into Anfield for residence wins over Wolves and Tottenham, the latter secured by a last-gasp Bobby Firmino header, and the champions stayed on the Premier League summit for Christmas Day after thumping Crystal Palace 7-0 at Selhurst Park.
Alas, that feast of targets quickly changed into a famine, as Liverpool’s subsequent 5 top-flight matches noticed them rating solely as soon as, and that was in a 1-1 draw at residence to lowly West Brom.
The Reds’ trigger actually wasn’t helped by a defensive damage disaster which noticed Joe Gomez’s season ended early by a long-term knee drawback and Joel Matip undergo a number of absences all through the marketing campaign.
The scenario was so dire that Jordan Henderson and Fabinho had been redeployed to kind a makeshift centre-back partnership, whereas Ben Davies was signed from Preston and Ozan Kabak arrived on mortgage from Schalke 04.
Finally, Klopp trusted in two kids in Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams, with that duo teaming up successfully and holding the fort for a lot of the second half of the season.
When Burnley got here to Anfield on 21 January, Liverpool had gone 68 residence video games unbeaten within the Premier League. Regardless of a post-Christmas droop, it was nonetheless a shock to see Ashley Barnes rating the purpose which ended that imperious streak, which had endured for practically 4 years.
As if that wasn’t freakish sufficient, the Reds then went and misplaced their subsequent 5 residence matches within the prime flight as Brighton, Manchester Metropolis, Everton, Chelsea and Fulham all took benefit of an eerily empty Anfield to pile on the distress for LFC, who’d additionally exited the FA Cup to Manchester United.
After that defeat to the Cottagers on 7 March, Liverpool sat eighth within the desk, with their mission going from retaining their title to easily attempting to salvage Champions League qualification.
Other than the difficulties on the pitch, the squad was additionally hit by a double tragedy within the opening months of 2021. Klopp’s mom Elisabeth handed away in February, with Jurgen unable to attend the funeral in Germany because of COVID-enforced journey restrictions, and Alisson Becker’s father José Agostinho drowned in Brazil.
For all their troubles domestically, the Reds truly went one step additional in Europe than that they had the earlier season, eliminating RB Leipzig within the Champions League spherical of 16 earlier than Actual Madrid ousted them within the quarter-finals.
By mid-April, three successive league wins confirmed indicators of enchancment, however a 1-1 draw at Leeds was overshadowed by Liverpool and 5 different English golf equipment signing as much as the egregious European Tremendous League, sparking vehement fan protests amongst supporters of all six Premier League members, who had been ultimately shamed into withdrawing from the challenge.
When Joe Willock scored a stoppage time equaliser for Newcastle at Anfield 5 days later, hopes of a top-four end had been starting to slide away for LFC, though wins over Southampton and Man United (the latter was Klopp’s first victory at Outdated Trafford) preserved the Champions League cost.
That quest gave the impression to be faltering as soon as extra when the Reds had been being held 1-1 by already relegated West Brom at The Hawthorns, till the guests gained a nook within the fifth minute of added time. Extremely, the person on the top of it was Alisson, who bought his head to the ball and diverted it into the Baggies’ web earlier than being engulfed by his jubilant teammates.
It was a poignant second after the goalkeeper’s household tragedy earlier within the 12 months, and it was adopted up by wins over Burnley and Crystal Palace (the latter noticed 10,000 followers at Anfield as restrictions had been lifted as soon as extra) to safe a third-place end which had appeared extremely inconceivable simply two months earlier.
The 2020/21 season had a contented ending, however it was by a long way the hardest of Klopp’s six years at Liverpool as much as that time. Accidents, the absence of followers, private tragedies and the occasional controversy all represented main hurdles to beat, however the Reds had achieved sufficient to make sure that they had been again within the Champions League for the next marketing campaign.
In case you’ve missed them, you possibly can take a look at earlier episodes of the sequence:
2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20
READ MORE: The evolution of Liverpool’s beginning XI below Jurgen Klopp
