It may still prove to be slightly mistimed, but Liverpool’s startling late charge has Manchester United and Newcastle looking with genuine fear over their shoulders.
It has also got the club’s own followers scratching their heads, wondering why it took them until the final six weeks of the season to put together their longest winning run of the campaign…and look like the real Liverpool in the process.
They have seven straight wins now, nine unbeaten in total, and with games against Aston Villa and Southampton to come, have a real chance to record nine straight wins - which would equal their best ever winning run at the end of a campaign under Jurgen Klopp.
That came in 2018-19, when they recorded the highest ever points total NOT to win the Premier League, as they pushed Manchester City with zealous intent on the final straight.
This time around it’s not quite as glamorous, but equally important. If either United or Newcastle drop four points, then two wins from the final two games will put them in the Champions League places.
The question though, is why it has taken so long to shake off their early season lethargy, which lingered well into the new year. The answer may lie in the identity of their goalscorers at Leicester on Monday night.
Scousers 3 Tories 0 Reds fans cheekily proclaimed afterwards, in recognition of their home grown talent Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who scored the three goals between them.
Both were a revelation, and have been since a new formation was unveiled against Arsenal just before the start of their current nine game winning streak back in April, when Jones came into the side and never left.
To put it in simple terms, Alexander-Arnold tucks into a midfield position from his full back berth, allowing Jones to get forward with more freedom on the other side, creating an overload along the front line.
It has worked spectacularly, and with increasing success. But it is not the only reason for the improvement. Both Jones and his fellow academy graduate are at the top of Liverpool’s pressing stats in the last month, an improvement which Klopp has demanded.
And the contrast to the start of the season is stark. Before the World Cup break, they were actually mid-table for pressing - a startling decline for a side who have been consistently in the top two for that metric since Klopp arrived.
Over their winning run though, they are back at the top of the Premier League ratings for pressing actions, and it has coincided with them appearing behind only City for most goals scored and fewest conceded.
Klopp sat down with Jones and explained just what he needed to do, to get into the team. “Specifically, counter-pressing and speed of play”, the manager explained. He has delivered both, along with some impressive stats for progressive movements.
Alexander-Arnold is the same. His pressing actions against Leicester were a season high, and he tops the Premier League table for assists from defenders.
Klopp’s new system helps both deliver what he needs. A team with an incredible counter-press once more, and defensive solidity to back up their scoring prowess, as three straight clean sheets - shockingly their best such run of the season - illustrates.
Both players acknowledge the improvement - Alexander-Arnold says Jones has “stepped up” and suggests it is his quality “on and off the ball” which has changed things.
“He arrives in those positions late - I think especially with the system we’re playing, that’s what we need, because we want to overload and create real problems.”
Jones likewise, believes he has adapted to the new system, both with his movement and willingness to press. “It allows me to stay high, between the lines, it’s working really well,” he says.
Klopp will agree, and in two local stars who are 24 and 22 respectively, along with a couple of astute summer signings he has the basis of a new team that can return Liverpool back towards greatness again.
