While Liverpool’s transitional 2022/23 campaign proved to be one to forget, the 2023/24 season is starting to grow into a season to remember.
The Reds are favourites for League Cup and Europa League glory, having set up a semi-final clash with Fulham in the former and reached the round-of-16 in the latter. Meanwhile a Boxing Day victory over Burnley saw them move top of the Premier League table, temporarily at least, as the English top-flight reached its midway point.
Admittedly, Arsenal could reclaim top spot on Thursday night when they host West Ham United. But even if they end up sitting second and a point off top spot when heading into 2024, it is a drastic improvement on last year’s flailing fortunes.
Liverpool sat eighth with 29 points after 19 games last season, following a dour 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Anfield. They were 10 points off the top four and 18 behind league-leaders Arsenal.
Fast forward 11 months and the Reds are top with 42 points, currently two ahead of their Gunners, having won the most games (12) while boasting the second-most prolific attack (39 goals scored) and the meanest defence (16 goals conceded). If not for the most controversial of officiating displays away at Tottenham Hotspur in September, they would also be unbeaten.
What makes their record even more impressive is the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s ‘Liverpool 2.0’ have been far from their best for the majority of the season. Historically getting stronger in each second half of the campaign, there is a feeling this new-look Reds are only just getting started. They have certainly put last year’s struggles behind them in no time at all.
Yet, as pointed out by Andrew Beasley on social media, their return for the first half of the season is actually their fourth-best in their Premier League history. Such a fact is a surprise, but a welcome one to be sure which only increases the optimism in the club’s fanbase.
Unsurprisingly, their title-winning campaign of 2019/20 boasts their best return of a whopping 55 points from their first half of the season, with a 1-1 draw at Manchester United their only dropped points.
Unbeaten at the halfway point the year before in 2018/19, they boasted 51 points. Meanwhile, the 2016/17 season, which saw them ultimately finish fourth to qualify for the Champions League for the first time under Klopp, saw them return 43 points from their first 19 games.
Their current haul of 42 points at the midway point matches what Rafa Benitez’s side recorded in 2008/09 on their way to finishing second, and is their highest return since winning the title in 2020. They actually boast one point more than they managed at the same point in 2021/22 when they last took the Premier League title-race to the final day, only to miss out by a solitary point.
“Liverpool, top of the league! Liverpool, Liverpool, top of the league!” their travelling supporters chanted as the Reds ran out 2-0 winners away at Burnley thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.
While the title-race remains wide open as we head into the second half of the season, with it impossible to say with any certainty whether Klopp’s men can finish the season as champions, it is at least certainly a case of so far, so good for ‘Liverpool 2.0’, with history on their side when it comes to their efforts to forge another credible title challenge.
