da luck： Liverpool’s blip got a whole lot worse on Tuesday evening in the FA Cup.
da dobrowin： After losing 1-0 to Atletico Madrid and 3-0 to Watford, the Reds were defeated by Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup, meaning that they are now unable to win the treble.
Whilst that would have been a big ask anyway, you would have expected them to attempt to do so with less of a whimper just a couple of weeks ago.
Despite the league being all but sewn up even with that loss to the Hornets – the Reds can still lose six of their last 10 games and still be crowned champions – Jurgen Klopp decided to put out a mixed side at Stamford Bridge. However, there were still a number of first-team regulars included in the starting XI – Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Fabinho, for example, were all present.
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It has been a mixed campaign for the latter. He had started the season in fantastic form, even leading Gary Neville (Sky Sports via Metro) to call him the best defensive midfielder in the world, but his injury against Napoli in the Champions League saw him ruled out until the New Year. He has failed to get back up to speed following his return from the sidelines too – without him starting from November 11th, the Reds kept nine clean sheets in 12 matches, but his three starts in the Premier League in 2020 have seen Liverpool ship five times.
This midweek, he found himself facing 18-year-old Billy Gilmour in the middle of the park. The teenager is a promising talent, but he is yet to start a top-tier match – Fabinho will have expected to get the better of his adversary.
In the end, though, it was the young Scot who prevailed. He was given the Man of the Match award for his display, whilst the Brazil international could only pick up a SofaScore rating of 5.9 in response – the worst on the pitch.
Klopp currently has problems in midfield. Fabinho, quite clearly, is under-performing, whilst Jordan Henderson, his captain and voice on the pitch, remains on the sidelines. Naby Keita, too, was unavailable against Chelsea, and even if he had been able to play, the 52-year-old’s clear frustration with the Guinea international against West Ham makes it unlikely he would have featured from the start.
Part of Liverpool’s success this term has been the possibility to rely on back-up options when they are brought into the action, but there is little option for Klopp but to persevere with the former AS Monaco man right now. It’s a concerning situation but the manager will be hoping that his form can once again go in the right direction.
Elsewhere, Liverpool are desperate for this man’s leadership.