Liverpool has already made some unfortunate Premier League history this year, virtually putting the Reds ‘two games behind’ their primary rivals.
Alexis Mac Allister started a pattern that has helped define the Reds’ first half of the season when he tackled Ryan Christie and was given a straight red card against Bournemouth on his home debut. The decision was later reversed. A week later, Virgil van Dijk was also fired after being found guilty of using foul play to prevent Alexander Isak of Newcastle United from having a clear chance to score.
Then, in the 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the previous month, Curtis Jones had a challenge that had originally been given a yellow card controversially upgraded to a red after a VAR check, and Diogo Jota followed him to the tunnel after two offences that were both bookable but the first of which wasn’t.
Jürgen Klopp’s squad never had more than two players sent off in any one game throughout his first eight seasons at Anfield. His team was already halfway to matching its overall collection of nine between October 2015 and May 2023 after having doubled that total in just seven games.
Naturally, Liverpool became the team to receive the most red cards at this point in a season in the competition’s 31-year history, setting a Premier League record in the process. The Reds were only one point behind defending champion Manchester City when they entered the international break in fourth place in the table, three points behind Arsenal and Spurs, who shared the lead.
It’s important to remember that they may have been doing even better if not for Luis Dáz’s incorrectly overturned goal against Tottenham. You could add one or three more points (it was 0-0 when Dáz thought he’d scored), depending on how pessimistic you are.
There are a few various angles from which you may see this. The first is that damage control is a crucial component of any successful title challenge, thus it is extremely positive for Liverpool’s chances of winning the league. The Reds’ rivals may want to be wary of the level they can reach once, one would hope, they find their groove with 11 players.
The Reds were only conceding 0.87 anticipated goals per 90 minutes in 11 vs 11 situations, which is the second-best average of Klopp’s tenure and a number that puts them in the company of recent title-winners, as noted by Liverpool.com’s Andrew Beasley prior to the trip to Brighton. Beasley acknowledges that the sample size is so small, though, that supporters shouldn’t really get too excited just yet.
A more accurate study shows that only five of Liverpool’s eight games have been impacted by red cards, and that the team has played 192 minutes of football thus far with a numerical disadvantage—more than two complete games. Due to the fact that this side is at least two games “behind” its key rivals in the 11 against 11 assessments, even though City and Arsenal have both had one player sent off, it is impossible to get a truly accurate assessment of where it stands.
After Brentford’s visit in 28 days, when the team will also have faced Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Luton, it could be preferable to evaluate Klopp’s team during the upcoming international break. You may argue that this favourable stretch of games isn’t representative enough, but it effectively negates Liverpool’s challenging start, which was statistically the fourth-hardest in the division.
It’s important to keep in mind that previous season, it had trouble against the inferior opposition. Consider the following four opponents: it failed to defeat either of the other two promoted sides (Luton is one of them this year), drew away at Everton, lost at Brentford, and won at Nottingham Forest.
They won’t be anticipating an easy run, but they will understand the value of making the most of it because a trip to City is coming up on November 25 that may or could not be a season-defining one. We’ll have a much better understanding of the significance of that match and the challenging holiday season that follows at the 12-game milestone.