As Liverpool continue to chase an unprecedented quadruple, it’s easy to forget just how written off they had been before the season had even started. Sure, they were predicted to be in a title-race, but many expected them to fall behind Man City and Chelsea with last year’s title defence collapse, amid a quickly overlooked defensive injury crisis, and a lack of summer transfer activity firmly in the mind.
Now, as we enter the final fortnight of the season, the Reds have toppled Thomas Tuchel’s side to win both the League Cup and FA Cup, can move a point behind Pep Guardiola’s men with a win over Southampton on Tuesday night, taking the Premier League title-race to final day in the process, and will take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final later this month. With one pundit even predicting they’d fail to even qualify for the Champions League this season, how quickly things can change.
The evaporation of the constant injury issues that had, for so long, left Klopp ’s squad operating with one arm behind their back has certainly helped their cause, giving them the shot in the arm they needed to wipe out Man City’s, at one point, 14-point lead and challenge for all four major honours in the first place. But so too has the £49m signing of Luis Diaz from FC Porto in January, signed six months early after being stolen from under the noses of Tottenham Hotspur, with his impact since moving to Anfield abundantly clear in every appearance, including most recently in his FA Cup final man of the match performance against Chelsea.
