After a surprise run to the Champions League final last spring, Liverpool entered the 2018/19 season as one of the top clubs to watch in the English Premier League. While manager Jurgen Klopp is getting (and deserves) a great deal of credit for turning the organisation around, the run of success has been fuelled primarily by the elevated greatness of Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian striker has become one of the most valuable footballers in the world, and should be in the running once again to be the top scorer in the English top flight. And the outlook for the current season that’s just gotten underway couldn’t be much more exciting.
That doesn’t mean Liverpool is the favourite. Manchester City has established some distance between itself and the pack of late, and on paper is still—rather clearly—the best Premier League team. City is favourite, as admitted even by Klopp, and most are still expecting the Manchester side to lift the trophy at season’s end, and possibly win the Champions League as well. Led by the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, and the up-and-coming Gabriel Jesus, it really is that strong a side.
That said, more and more people seem to be coming around to the idea that Liverpool is not just capable of challenging Manchester City, but is a clear second-best team in the league. Typically, we’d consider the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Tottenham lately in this conversation. But Liverpool looks like the class of the league beyond Man City. An Irish site taking stock of the EPL’s early action even went so far as to suggest the EPL title competition could already be a two horse race between City and Liverpool. While the article was largely considering a betting perspective, it did note some of the key moves Liverpool made to improve upon what was already a good roster: adding goalkeeper Alisson from Roma, defender Fabinho from AS Monaco, and strengthening the midfield and wing with the likes of Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Those players added to last season’s core of Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge, and Sadio Mané, gives Mo Salah a lot to work with as he attempts to elevate his club even further. And in the early going, we’ve been given no reason to question the group’s potential. True to character as, somewhat suddenly, the most trustworthy scorer on the planet not named Ronaldo, Salah scored just 19 minutes into the new season en route to a 4-0 opening victory over West Ham. The team then added a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in which a 92nd minute penalty netted Mané his third goal already in the young season.
Liverpool looks like an extraordinarily threatening offensive side, and the defence ought to be much improved from last season as well. Only time will tell if the team has enough to dethrone Man City, but the early returns are strong, and we may just be watching Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp upending the Premier League order in real time.
The Outlook For Mo Salah’s Liverpool
