Liverpool have set a slew of enviable records in Jurgen Klopp’s seven-and-a-half years as manager, but tonight they could add another to the list
Since defeating Manchester United 7-0 in early March, the Reds have gone winless in five games, losing three of them. They haven’t led a game since that thrashing of Erik ten Hag’s team.
As Keifer MacDonald of the Liverpool Echo pointed out this morning, the Merseysiders have never gone more than five games without winning during the German’s reign, a feat that could come to an end if they don’t get all three points against Leeds at Elland Road later.
Klopp has previously endured lengthy winless streaks, once going 16 games without a victory while in charge of Mainz and having two seven-match famines as Dortmund manager (Daily Mail).
He’s also had bad spells with Liverpool, including a five-game stretch in the 2020/21 Premier League that resulted in three draws, two defeats, and one goal. That also happened to come right after a 7-0 victory (away to Crystal Palace).
The end of that run coincided with the start of an unusual run of six consecutive Premier League defeats at Anfield, where the Reds hadn’t lost a league match in nearly four years until Ashley Barnes’ decisive goal for Burnley.
We’ve only been beaten at home in the top flight once since then, and that was against tonight’s opponents earlier this season.
Klopp has previously gone five games without a win in all competitions for Liverpool, when we crashed out of two cups in four days and lost to Swansea and Hull in the Premier League.
If you’re looking for a good omen, the streak ended with a win over a white team (Tottenham), after which we won eight of our next 13 games to finish fourth on the final day of the season and return to the Champions League.
We only have nine games left to secure a top-four spot this time, but hopefully we can repeat our previous trip to Elland Road (a 3-0 win in September 2021) and avoid an unwelcome first under our current manager.
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