Jurgen Klopp knows more than most the importance of making Anfield a fortress as he plots Liverpool resurgence
Back at Anfield, then.
More than three months on from their last Premier League outing on home soil, Liverpool will return to L4 this afternoon to host Bournemouth.
Much has changed since that outing against Aston Villa in late May when Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian, Naby Keita and James Milner said their goodbyes at an emotionally-charged stadium, which closed Chapter One of Jurgen Klopp’s first great Reds side.
But it wasn’t just the aforementioned quartet who saw their Anfield careers concluded with the 1-1 draw against the Midlanders, with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho later choosing to call time on their glittering Liverpool spells by sealing switches to the new-found riches of the Saudi Pro League.
As explained by Klopp prior to last week’s tie against Chelsea, such departures have opened the door for the likes of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Ben Doak, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and more to stake their claims for a starring role in the “reloaded” Liverpool
And even with such significant upheaval at Anfield during the months of June, July and August, Saturday’s encounter against the Cherries will go some way to foreshadowing how successful the next nine months will be. Because after failing by the wayside of Europe’s elite for the first time since 2017 last time out, this summer’s post-mortem cited such issues as a direct result of an unconvincing home record.
Of course, it was when today’s opponents visited Merseyside 12 months ago, then managed by Scott Parker, that Liverpool were afforded lift-off as they secured a first Premier League home win of the campaign with a record-breaking 9-0 thrashing. Those points came after the Reds had slipped into a post-quadruple-chasing slump and failed to win any of their opening fixtures against Fulham, Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
Surprisingly even after recording victories over Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton, last season’s tally of 44 points at Anfield was the fourth-lowest tally of Klopp’s seven campaigns. Dropped points to Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Aston Villa represented a significant drop-off to the totals of 53 and 55 (from a possible 57) that the Reds returned in consecutive campaigns in 2018/19 and 2019/20 as they finished with 97 and 99 points in the Premier League.
In fact, when Liverpool scaled the summit of English football in 2020 their remarkable triumph had been centred around a formidable Anfield record that saw them inflict defeat on 18 of their 19 Premier League opponents. Clearly, with the presence of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker at one end of the field and the cold-blooded streak of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Firmino at the other, Anfield was the most imperious ground in all of the land.
And dating back two years earlier, the Reds’ 68-game unbeaten on Anfield Road between April 2017 and January 2021 has only been bettered by Chelsea in the Premier League era. Incredibly during that three-and-a-half-year stretch, Liverpool drew just 13 games.
Ahead of this afternoon’s test, performances of years gone by indicate that Liverpool nearly always produce on their Anfield bow. In fact only once since 2016 have the Reds failed to win their opening home fixture of the Premier League season. That particular blot, on an otherwise perfect record, came against Crystal Palace last August when Luis Diaz’s late leveller was not enough to inspire his side – after Darwin Nunez had been sent off – to victory against the Selhurst Park outfit.
But prior to last August’s outing, that elusive run includes the 2016 trouncing over Leicester City in front of the new Anfield Main Stand, while 2018’s 4-0 beating of West Ham United lives long in the memory of a campaign that ended with European Cup glory. During that time, Palace (in another fixture), Norwich, Leeds United and Burnley have all failed in their attempts to squash Liverpool’s early season momentum.
And although Anfield will not be officially unveiling the new state-of-the-art Anfield Road expansion prior to kick-off this weekend, Saturday should see summer signings Mac Allister and Szoboszlai make their debuts on home turf, while 17-year-old Doak may be looking to build on his lively cameo against Chelsea last week with a third Anfield outing of his rookie career.
“It’s the first home game, maybe we should not forget that, for a long time,” said Klopp on Friday afternoon. “When you start pre-season a lot of things you don’t need immediately because you need the time to work on them, but the first home game is not one of them.
“It was really the one thing you cannot wait for. We missed Anfield. We missed the atmosphere.”
Clearly so much has changed at Liverpool in recent months, but Anfield’s importance remains unaffected.
