The 2021/22 season saw a kind of a rollercoaster ride for the Anfield side as they almost became the first-ever English side to win the quadruple surpassing Manchester United’s record of winning the treble. This was a season that many fans might wish to forget as well as for some to rejoice and look forward to a better future.
The season ended for Liverpool with a 3-1 victory over Wolves, giving them 91 points in the Premier League and having lost only 2 games the entire season along with 8 draws. Losing out on the Champions League saw a lot of hearts broken but Liverpool tried to make yet another mark in the English football despite having the greatest number of European Trophies in the country.
A short story describing the entire 2021/22 season-
Liverpool kicked off their campaign in style in Carrow Road with a 3-0 win over Norwich when Diego Jota opened the scoring in the 26th minute of the game followed by 2nd-half domination by the other two strikers- Firmino (65th Min) and Salah (74th Min).
Manchester City cruised past all the other clubs in the Premier League table at the start of the season. But very soon, Klopp’s army produced heavy and important victories over their arch-rivals helping them come closer to clinching the 20th league title. Liverpool was involved in a brilliant game against Manchester City with both the fixtures ending in a 2-2 draw. A game that only depicted tactical geniuses of both the managers. On the other hand, Liverpool showed their tactical prowess over Manchester United in both the fixtures scoring 9 goals in these two matches. Salah produced one of the best playing styles that the Premier League had been waiting for such a long time. A hat trick against United in Old Trafford saw fans leaving the stadium before the clock struck the 80th minute. The word “demolition” would fit the exact scenario of the fixture as the game ended on a 5-0 scoreline.
However, Liverpool was involved in a miraculous 3-3 draw against the newly-promoted side Brentford and then dropped some crucial points in the title race when Leicester City and West Ham United wept past the Merseyside Giants. Liverpool felt the pain and eventually, these points came back and haunted the team on the last day of the campaign when Manchester City produced some fine and elegant football to reclaim their English throne by just a one-point margin.
Liverpool played two domestic Cup finals and took them all home. Both the finals in Wembley saw the game end in the penalty shootout drama against Chelsea.
Klopp eventually found a brilliant and worthy replacement for Joe Gomes. Ibrahim Konate who took his spot brilliantly, and his partnership alongside Van Dijk at the back makes it even more difficult for the opponents to ease past them. Konate and Van Dijk are yet to lose a game at Anfield and their impressive record has yielded Liverpool to keep 21 clean sheets this season in the PL making them the team with the highest so far (21 CS) along with Manchester City.
COMPLETE STATISTICS OF THE 2021-22 SEASON:
Top Scorer: Mohammed Salah(31 goals)
Top Assists Provider: Trent Alexander Arnold(18 assists)
Most Appearances: Alisson(54 games)
Total Points In The Premier League: 92 points with 92 goals scored and only 26 conceded –
GA: 68 (PL)
Liverpool record (In all competition)-
Premier League: 28 wins, 8 draws, 2 loss
Champions League: 9 wins, 0 draws, 2 loss
FA Cup: 5 wins, 0 draws, 0 loss
Carabao Cup– 5 wins,0 draws, 0 loss
Now let’s have an overview of the entire season of Liverpool-
Champions League Drama on the opening night
Liverpool’s Champions League season kicked off in style in Anfield when they faced AC Milan. Rebic and B.Diaz scored two quick goals just before halftime creating an anxious atmosphere inside the stadium and making the fans nervous as well. However, Tamori’s own goal in the opening 10min of the game acted as a catalyst for the Reds in the second-half. Salah immediately made the impact as soon as the 2nd half kicked off making the scoreline even. Milan kept constant pressure on the home side but the home side kept their heads cool in those heated situations. Liverpool captain, Jordan Henderson scored a brilliant goal in the 69th minute of the game giving the home side the advantage and thereby helping them secure all the three points needed to start off their enthralling campaign.
The Clash of Titans
On the 3rd of October 2021, the biggest game in the English calendar took place in Anfield when Manchester City took on Liverpool. After a frustrating first half of football the game finally picked up the momentum when Sadio Mane scored in the 59th minute of the fixture giving the home side the much-deserved lead. Phil Foden created a magical goal from a tight angle when a Kevin De Bruyne pass escalated the move. Salah scored shortly after making the score line once again in the home sides favor. That goal in Anfield even made the fans from the away side stand up and give him a round of applause. The whole Manchester City defense was seen lying on the ground and mumbling about the mistakes that they have made. Meanwhile, Anfield reverberated with “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The game again took a serious turn when Kevin De Bruyne once again gave his side the lifeline in the 81st minute of Derby bringing back the hopes of an emphatic comeback. The game ended in a draw and surely made all the football fans around the world have a good 90min to spend on a Sunday evening.
Emphatic Home Record
After playing a total of 19 games on the home turf, the Reds are yet to lose a home game. Liverpool clocked a total of 0 defeats at home and that run will continue even in the next season. On the other hand, Liverpool have lost only one game at home when Inter Milan faced the Reds in the Quarterfinals of the UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. With the star signing of Ibrahim Konate, it has become even more difficult for any striker to penetrate through that concrete Liverpool defence. Adding to it is Virgil Van Dijk who has been consistent ever since he joined the club from Southampton. The duo at the back along with the two prolific attacking wingbacks Trent and Robertson gives the attacking force of Liverpool a cutting edge to it. In recent times, Anfield is the only stadium in the entire Europe that has seen the home side losing the minimum number of matches.
Manchester had fallen
Liverpool visited the “Theaters of Dream” to take on Manchester United on a windy evening fixture on the 24th of October 2021, with a crowd-packed stadium of 84,000 Mancunians and the Merseysiders combined. The game started off with a quick Naby Kieta goal followed by a Diego Jota’s sublime finishing to put the ball inside the United goal post yet again in the 13th minute of the heated Derby fixture making the score line 2-0. Man United crumbled throughout the game and gifted Liverpool the possession every time, enabling them to counter attack and humiliate them. Salah’s blistering campaign took a serious turn when he scored his first of the night followed by another two goals in the second half thereby, helping him complete his much-deserved hat trick. Klopp’s tactics demolished United in every aspect and later in the 60th minute of the game, a Paul Pogba red card on a silly challenge acted as a catalyst to help the team secure all the deserving three points and also keeping a clean sheet. “Ole’s at the wheel,” echoed the whole stadium throughout the second half, while Jamie Carragher described United as an “absolute mess” after the game. Manchester United fans left the stadium shortly after the 75th minute to prevent themselves from witnessing the shambolic and atrocious performance that day. Surely a night to remember for the Liverpool fans and teams.
In the reverse fixture, the score line was nothing sort of a different one, except the fact that there was only one less goal scored and Salah missing out on a hat trick. Sadio Mane produced a fine and elegant assist to Salah leaving the United defenders clueless and awestruck afterwards. De Gea could only watch the ball go in, meanwhile, Anfield once again burst with elation. The game ended in a 4-0 scoreline, yet again proving Liverpool’s class.
Wembley becoming a common hunting ground for trophies
The Reds reached the finals of both the Carabao Cup and the prestigious FA CUP. Both the game was played against the London side (Chelsea) who were ready to fight till the last breath. Surprisingly, both the finals ended on a 0-0 scoreline and the penalty shootout came out to be the decider every time. After an enthralling penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup Final, Kepa Arrizabalaga missed the penalty helping Liverpool to clinch the trophy. The shootout result was an astonishing 11-10 scoreline. Similarly, FA CUP FINAL ended on a 5-6 scoreline, giving Liverpool the trophy yet again.
A day to forget for the team
After securing a berth in the UEFA Champions League finals for the third time in five years, Liverpool failed to win the trophy in Paris. Real Madrid got the better of the two teams as one defensive error cost the team the title. Vinicius Junior scored the only goal of the match thereby, breaking the hearts of millions of Liverpool fans. Liverpool certainly could have been miles ahead in the fixture if it had not been Courtois who was certainly having the best game of his career producing outrageous saves after saves. Salah came very close to score the equalizer but was once again denied by the huge Belgian man in front of the goal. Liverpool lost the game but won the hearts of millions of fans around the world for displaying staunch authority throughout the season.
The final day spectacle in the Premier League
One point separated the two teams (Liverpool 2nd and Manchester City 1st) from winning the Premier League. City faced Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium and Liverpool faced Wolves at home. Wolves quickly pounced on the Reds causing a nervous and twitchy atmosphere inside the stadium. Fans stood up from their seats and continuously fidgeted with their mobile phones to keep tabs on the City game which was being played on the other side of the country. Meanwhile, Liverpool were still trailing, Aston Villa put a serious lifeline for Liverpool keeping the points tally exactly the same. A single point separated the two teams from winning the league. Liverpool responded quickly when Sadio Mane scored for the Reds helping them come at par with City who just led the table with a few goals margin. Anfield’s tears of joy and hope reverberated almost the entire city when the talisman Salah, gave Liverpool the lead in the 84th min of the game. Aston Villa scored their second goal of the day when a cheeky right-footed Coutinho punch left Ederson helpless. The game took a serious turn of events when Pep Guardiola got his substitution of the season on- Iikay Gündoğan. Having come on, he scored the opener for the Blues followed by a goal just after two minutes by Rodri to keep City back on the track keeping them at par with Liverpool. But three minutes later, the unthinkable happened when a magical Kevin De Bruyne pass through that busy Aston Villa defence and found Gündoğan at the other side of the post who made the perfect run to just tap in the ball and hand over the Premier League title to them. Never had the Premier League seen such a rollercoaster ride on the last day of the season. Liverpool kept their heads high as they once again scored in the 89th minute of the game hoping desperately for City to concede another one to steal the 20th Premier League title helping them tally Manchester United’s record of 20.
Liverpool’s Player of the Season: Mohamed Salah
The prolific winger scored a total of 23 goals in the Premier League and bagged a total of 13 assists, who else could have been nominated for the player of the season for the club. However, the Egyptian broke the club’s record for becoming the player of the season for the third time in a row. Apart from only scoring goals and engaging himself in scoring an emphatic hat trick, he is also responsible for creating open spaces for the other strikers and creating especially the two attacking wingbacks to score as well. Often, we have seen that due to his ability to analyse the defenders so, he can create accurate passes and runs to help the team score in the first place. Wingbacks (Trent and Robertson) has heavily utilized this thereby helping them become more of an attacker rather than just following their traditional defensive chores and trackback.
Our view on the 2021/22 season
Having won two trophies and another one to fight for on the 30th of July for the Community Shield Final against Manchester City, the season went in a different class. Despite, missing out on the two most prestigious trophies in Europe, Liverpool have not failed to play proper and entertaining football throughout the season. They have galored goals after goals and conceded the fewest goals in the competition. This is certainly one of the seasons that the fans and the team don’t won’t to forget. However, the 2021/22 season has now become the past and most importantly what needs to be focused is on the future that lays ahead. This period can be used heavily to overcome the mistakes that were made and also to analyse various players who will be coming in and fitting into the squad. We once again pray for a vehement season and hope to get more trophies back at Anfield and keep singing, “YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE” till our last breath.
Our Rating For 2021/22 Season: 8/10
