Arne Slot's side restored their seven-point lead over Arsenal by beating Wolves on Sunday, but the game provided more questions than answers
Some pundits have been saying for weeks now that the Premier League title race is already over. Try telling that to anyone that was at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. At one point, Andy Robertson had to even turn to the Kop and tell the fans to calm down. There was no chance of that that, though. The crowd was simply a reflection of Liverpool's performance: nervous as hell!
In the end, the Reds managed to beat Wolves 2-1 to move seven points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table – yet they didn't look like runaway league leaders during an atrocious second-half showing in which they failed to muster a single shot of any variety. Indeed, if the past week has taught us anything, it's that Liverpool are beginning to feel the heat.
Just four days after throwing away two points in the last-ever Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, Arne Slot's side were scrambling around trying desperately to eke out a win against the fourth-weakest team in the league. Winning ugly may well be a sign of champions, but playing so anxiously is definitely not – and the tension on and off the field at Anfield only raises further doubts over Liverpool's mental state going into this week's two massive away matches…
Getty Images SportDerby setback
Some big calls may have gone against them at Goodison, but there can be no denying that Liverpool lost their cool after the 2-2 draw at Everton. Slot, his assistant Sipke Hulshoff and midfielder Curtis Jones were all sent off after the full-time whistle, and the manager admitted ahead of the Wolves game that his emotions had got the better of him following James Tarkowski's controversial injury-time equaliser.
The hope was that Liverpool would quickly put their derby disappointment behind them on Sunday and they were perfectly placed to do just that, after opening up a 2-0 lead by the break, thanks to a fortunate goal for Luis Diaz and the now-customary Mohamed Salah penalty. However, what followed was extremely worrying.
Liverpool were absolutely atrocious after the restart against Wolves, restricted to just 46.8 percent possession and only three touches in the opposition box.
Alisson Becker had already made one crucial save from Marshall Munetsi when Matheus Cunha deservedly halved the visitors' deficit with a wonderfully well-taken goal from just outside the area. Had it not been for an outstanding last-ditch tackle from Jarell Quansah, who had to be brought on before Ibrahima Konate got himself sent off, Wolves would have claimed the share of the spoils that their performance warranted.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Relief at the end'
Liverpool were, thus, incredibly fortunate to take all three points and, rather tellingly, Slot admitted that the derby had still been playing on his players' minds.
"Clearly it was a relief at the end, especially after what happened on Wednesday," the Dutchman told reporters. "Those last eight minutes, and especially the last minute where we conceded a goal, you are so frustrated because you know that moment can also have [an] impact for the next game or for the next games that are coming up.
"And I think you saw today after us conceding the 2-1 that maybe for the first time this season we were a bit, 'Ooh…' after conceding in the last minute against Everton. I think that was in our heads a bit and that's also why we, as a team, were so furious on Wednesday."
AFP'Not tired, not at all'
It was put to Slot after the game that some of his players looked tired. Remember, Liverpool should have been rewarded with a couple of free midweeks after progressing directly to the last 16 of the Champions League by topping the league phase. However, they're now in the midst of a run of five games in 15 days because of the rescheduled derby and Wednesday's trip to Aston Villa being brought forward because of the Reds' participation in next month's Carabao Cup final.
Slot, though, was very keen and quick to shoot down the idea that a hectic schedule is now catching up with his title-chasing team, who are not exerting anything like the same control over games as they were during the first half of the season.
"I never judge a situation [based] on 20 minutes," he said, alluding to his side's struggles in the closing stages of the Wolves win. "On Wednesday evening [against Everton], I saw a team fighting until the last second – pressing, working, being so, so, so fit.
"These players are not tired, not at all. They are able to play every three days in the highest intensity, but you have to take the mental part of the game into the occasion as well. All the events that happened on Wednesday evening, it's not only working hard, what did it do to us mentally as well, these last eight minutes of injury time? I can even tell you what it did to me mentally, let alone what it did to these players that had to run so much."
It's a fair point, but not one that is unlikely to soothe the supporters' concerns. They know only too well that mental tiredness can be even more detrimental than physical fatigue to a title challenge.
Getty Images Sport'Players were a bit down'
Injuries obviously played a major role in Liverpool's campaign unravelling last season but, as Jurgen Klopp admitted, a couple of negative results at Old Trafford also had a much bigger impact than they should have done, as they devastated the players psychologically. The fear, then, is that Slot's Liverpool are also starting to feel the strain, and it was worrying to see them looking so deflated when the full-time whistle blew against Wolves.
"When the boys came into the dressing room, I felt like they were a bit down maybe, a bit like it wasn't our best performance," Slot admitted. "That probably tells you also how well we've played during the season – that we weren't even that happy with this win.
"But I said to them, 'This win is maybe even a bigger accomplishment than outplaying Tottenham here [and winning] 4-0 because in a season where you want to achieve something – no matter what you want to achieve – you need to play good football, that's the basis of success, but if you don't have the mentality to win difficult games then you will never achieve something'.
"That's why I was so disappointed for the players and so frustrated when I was in the dressing room after the game when we played Everton. The boys did so well, fought so hard and deserved, in my opinion, to go away from there with 2-1, not in terms of football but in terms of mentality. We didn't win that one, but we did today."
