Lack of World Cup Burnout and Attack Tactics; Why Liverpool Might Win

 So, so often these days, a post-World Cup season can be riddled with a slow start, a struggle for fitness, and a team having to keep some of their biggest stars out of their starting XI. While a side such as Tottenham had a huge amount of players get through to at least the semi-final stage of this summer’s World Cup, Liverpool have an advantage over many of their rivals on that front.

Out of the current Liverpool squad, Dejan Lovren was a key part of the Croatia team that lost to France in the final, while Jordan Henderson was in England’s engine room as the Three Lions went out at the semi-final stage. Trent Alexander-Arnold was a squad player for England, and Simon Mignolet was an unused part of the Belgium squad that similarly go to the semi-finals. Brazil’s Roberto Firmino, Egypt’s Mo Salah, and Serbia’s Marko Grujic all departed the tournament early, and so the Reds fared a lot more favourably than some of their fellow Premier League teams when it comes to the post-World Cup fallout.

For example, Spurs’ pre-season and the early part of their 2018/2019 Premier League campaign was hugely affected due to the sheer number of their players who were tied up with the latter stages of the World Cup; Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, and Moussa Dembele all a part of the Belgium side that got to the semi-finals; Harry Kane, Kieran Trippier, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, and Danny Rose in the England squad that similarly went out at the semi-final mark; and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris captaining France to World Cup glory.

Elsewhere, all three of Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea had seven players involved in the World Cup semi-final stage.

As much as it may pain some of us to admit it, Liverpool’s attack was an absolute force of nature during the 2017/2018 season – and the goals don’t look like drying up any time soon!

In the Premier League alone, last year saw Mo Salah bag 32 goals in 36 games, Roberto Firmino 13 in 35 games, and Sadio Mane 10 goals in 29 games. To put into perspective just how impressive that is, the collective 55 goals by the trio last season was more goals than 14 other Premier League teams scored in total.

With the 2018/2019 campaign now underway, the Anfield outfit have only strengthened their attacking options further by bringing in the brilliant-but-erratic Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City, while the vision and quick distribution of Naby Keita – signed this summer from Red Bull Leipzig – will provide Liverpool’s forward line with plenty of chances to find the back of the net.

Liverpool’s attacking options are enough to scare any defence in world football, and the sheer power, pace, and unrelenting work rate of the likes of Salah, Made, and Firmino could ultimately play a huge part in bringing the Premier League trophy to Anfield for the first time in Liverpool’s history.

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