One can only imagine the feelings that ran through Jürgen Klopp when, as is likely, he sat down and watched Manchester City’s victory at Newcastle last Saturday. There may well have been a thrill at taking in arguably the best game of the season but also, no doubt, a sense of deja vu in seeing City triumph in such impressive, relentless style.
A lot of teams have been tormented by City’s state-funded brilliance under Pep Guardiola but few have felt the pain quite like Liverpool, especially during the 2018-19 and 2021-22 campaigns when they accumulated huge points totals – 97 and 92 respectively – but still could not beat the men from Eastlands to the title. In the one season they did prevail, 2019-20, Covid struck, making the moment Liverpool finally got their hands on the trophy an odd and eerie one.
