United visit already seismic

IT MAY be a small sample size of two games but this is still officially Liverpool’s worst start to the season under Jurgen Klopp.

Which already makes Monday’s visit to Old Trafford and a wounded Manchester United look seismic for both clubs.

Elite-level football has changed.

The top Premier sides lose so rarely, even a draw is seen as significant, as evidenced by the fact over the past six seasons, the team finishing top has dropped an average of 19 points in each campaign. Take out the virtually full Covid season without fans, and that drops to an average of 17 points per season.

Which makes dropping four points in your first two games as Liverpool have done, look careless in the extreme.

Especially when City have signed one of the world’s best goalscorers.

If 17 points dropped in total is the new norm, then Liverpool have only 13 more to play with.

It seems daunting. They can lose only four matches, in effect.

Anguish

Maybe that is why there was so much anguish around Anfield on Monday night when Crystal Palace arrived with a determined game plan, and executed it with ruthless intent, causing frustration which boiled over in Darwin Nunez’s red card.

In all Klopp’s seven years at Anfield, his worst start came in his first full season, 2016/17, when his emerging Liverpool team won at Arsenal but then lost at Burnley in their first two matches.

That was the season when their home ground was being redeveloped, and they played the first three matches away from home — drawing at Spurs in the third game too.

So after the 2-2 draw with Fulham and 1-1 draw with Palace, victory at Old Trafford is already looking essential as they head to Manchester for the next league game.

And by which time City could be seven points ahead in the Premier League table after their visit to Newcastle on Sunday.

It is why there was so much urgency when Liverpool went down to 10 men against Palace and why each of their players focused swiftly on the task of the United game straight afterwards.

Harvey Elliott, one of the better players on Monday night, summed it up well.

Points

“We just need to make sure we get the three points now,” he said.

“There were a lot of positives from tonight — a lot more than the Fulham game, so it’s a stepping stone for us.

“Man United is always going to be a tough game away at their place. We’re just going to be fully focused and with full fight and hopefully we can go in and put it right this time.”