Liverpool will be looking to put the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City in the second half of the season, with the arrival of Luis Diaz strengthening their squad.
Currently sat nine points behind City, Liverpool used the January transfer window as an opportunity to improve their front-line, with Liverpool having gained points on City after their 1-1 draw with Southampton in the last round of fixtures.
Diaz is set to make his way to Merseyside this week after his £49 million move to the Reds from Porto in the closing stages of the transfer window.
Klopp's side also made a very late move for Fulham youngster Fabio Carvalho, but the deal collapsed due to the window coming to a close.
After going the last few fixtures without Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita due to AFCON whilst the likes of Thiago and Divock Origi have been absent through injury, it seems the Reds will be back to a full strength side when they face Leicester CIty in their next league outing.
So, what could happen in the remainder of the 2021/22 Premier League season for Jurgen Klopp's side?
Could the addition of Diaz give Liverpool the depth to overtake City and win the Premier League, or is the gap already too big?
Let’s see what happened!
We simulated Liverpool's remaining 2021/22 Premier League season
To simulate the remainder of the season, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to update all teams, managers and playing squads of all Premier League teams. We then simulated from the end of the January transfer window in-game until the end of the 2021/22 season.
We used the Football Manager 2022 editor to replicate the current Premier League table as it is in real life, with the correct results for every fixture so far in the 2021/22 season. All in-game statistics shown from our simulated season are taken between February 1st, 2021 to May 31st, 2021.
Diogo Jota kept improving throughout the second half of the season and was Liverpool's biggest threat in front of goal, scoring 20 and assisting two in 30 appearances.
Salah remained the Reds' top performer as he averaged a rating of 7.65 per game in the last four months of the season, grabbing 10 goals and nine assists in that time.
Mane re-discovered his best form as he averaged the second-best rating at the club, also scoring 10 goals whilst grabbing seven assists.
And Diaz had an impressive first few months with the Reds, scoring six times and assisting once in 16 appearances.
Liverpool's inconsistent form after the January transfer window led to some impressive results, but the Reds struggled with game management after numerous occasions where Klopp's side let leads slip away from them.
A late winner from Roberto Firmino at Anfield saw the Reds pick up a crucial win against a refreshed Spurs side, with Liverpool keeping pace in the league with City.
A 3-0 home win in the Merseyside derby delighted supporters as Klopp got the better of Everton's new manager Frank Lampard, but the Reds' inconsistencies started the show following a narrow 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester after Sadio Mane's early equaliser was cancelled out by a late Marc Albrighton strike.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Liverpool XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics.
This is how the best Liverpool's XI looked in 2021/22 according to FM22.
Full Liverpool best XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Matip, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Mane.
Diaz was used as an impact sub for his first few months with the Reds, with Roberto Firmino also missing out on the best XI behind Salah, Jota and Mane.
The rest of the starting XI is the best line-up which Liverpool have fielded all season, with Joel Matip starting ahead of Ibrahima Konate.
Here’s how the 2021/22 Premier League table looked at the end of May 2022.
Interestingly, the gap between Liverpool and Man City had opened even wider by the end of the season, with Pep Guardiola's side beating the Reds to the title by 10 points.
The Reds tallied 80 points throughout the season, scoring the second-most goals and conceding the third-fewest.
Draws against Man United, Aston Villa, Southampton and Arsenal from leading positions proved the downfall for the Reds, with Klopp's side drawing 11 games throughout the season.
They also lost 2-0 to Man City in the top of the table clash, as well as losing once again to Leicester, meaning they lost six points to the Foxes throughout the season.
Overall, Liverpool coped with the absence of key players such as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane throughout January, and strengthened with the addition of Luis Diaz who had a good impact throughout the remainder of the season, but the Reds' inability to hold onto leads would see them slip away from City who continued their impressive form throughout the season.
Would you be happy with this outcome at the end of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign? Let us know in the comments below!
