Liverpool fans have the chance to celebrate the club’s title
win in style with a new competition offering £250 in merchandise!
WhichBookie have teamed up with leading
Liverpool fan site Anfield Index to offer the fans the opportunity to win £250
of credit to spend in the Anfield Index store, including the fantastic
Champions range. All fans need to do is answer a simple question.
It’s the club’s first top flight title since 1989-90 and
what WhichBookie are asking fans is who was in the dugout for Liverpool during
that famous season?
Who was the Liverpool manager when the club won the league title in
1989-90?
Bob Paisley
Graeme Souness
Kenny Dalglish
Roy Evans
To enter fans must visit the site and fill out the competition form.
The competition closes on 17/09/2020 and players must be
over the age of 18 to enter.
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sites in the UK, with full reviews and free bets for all the top brands.
The brand have a team of experts which analyse the offering
of all the most respected bookmakers as well as top new brands entering the
market. You’ll also find a range of betting tips from top tipsters across the
football season.
After
Liverpool’s night of disappointment in Kiev at the end of the 2017/18 season,
it was hard to see them bouncing back so quickly. They had just lost 3-1 to
Real Madrid in the Champions League final, a match in which goalkeeper Loris
Karius had committed two blunders and talismanic forward Mohamed Salah had been
forced off with a shoulder injury early in the game.
It
was a night where everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, but that
agony would only serve to add to the ecstasy Jurgen Klopp’s men would feel
twelve months later as Jordan Henderson lifted the Champions League trophy
aloft, having defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid. The triumph was a
testament to the idea of using past hurt as a key motivating factor, and the
jubilant scenes on Merseyside as Liverpool’s players paraded through the city
were images of unbridled joy.
As
another Champions League campaign rolls around once again, it will be
interesting to see how Liverpool fare now that Klopp has finally tasted
silverware as Anfield boss. Will there be something of a lull in the Reds’
European performances, or will last year’s success only inspire this squad to
seek further glory, to break records and surpass the feats of last season,
where their Champions League victory was complemented by a remarkable 97-point
Premier League campaign?
The
current Champions League winner odds place Liverpool among the favourites to
lift the famous old trophy, but to make it to three finals in a row would be a
stunning achievement for the Reds given the competitive nature of Europe’s
premier club competition.
That
said, Real Madrid won the tournament three years running before last season, so
to say it cannot be done in the modern game would be remiss. Liverpool have a
special relationship with the Champions League just like Real Madrid, and it
seems that this European pedigree plays a part on those big nights in the
latter stages of the competition.
On
that special night in April against Barcelona at Anfield, you could almost feel
the history of the club swelling up around the famous stadium, the memories of
past glory summoned forth by the roar of the crowd to the extent that Barcelona
could do nothing but crumble.
The
‘big European night at Anfield’ has become something of a cliché, but that is
only because few grounds have witnessed the drama that Anfield has, and few
grounds can generate the same atmosphere. If Liverpool are to continue their
Champions League success of the last couple of seasons in this campaign, they
must continue to harness the power of their support.
Some
might point to Liverpool’s lack of big-name acquisitions in the summer transfer
window as a reason why they might get left behind in Europe this season. Jurgen
Klopp refused to splash the cash over the summer months, content with the
quality of his squad, eager to build on the unity developed through last year’s
achievements. Only time will tell us if this was the right decision.
Perhaps
more important for Liverpool was retaining their key players, keeping the core
of that team together to go again. It possibly would have been foolish to bring
in another attacker and disturb the front three that has terrorised defences
domestically and in Europe. In Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino, Liverpool
have a winning combination, three players who perfectly complement each other’s
games, who create and provide for one another, and whose unpredictability is
their greatest asset.
Liverpool’s
full-backs too could stake a claim to be Europe’s finest at the moment. The
pin-point accuracy of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deliveries have rightly earned
the young Englishman many plaudits, while Andy Robertson’s tenacious
athleticism means he is a constant threat on the left side of the pitch. The
only question is whether those two can maintain such high levels of performance
across another lengthy campaign.
The
group stage draw has been to kind Liverpool, placing them in Group E with
Napoli, Red Bull Salzburg and Genk. It’s easy to forget that the Reds barely
made it out of their group last season, edging through after beating Napoli on
the final matchday. This group should see progress secured more comfortably,
but complacency must be avoided at all costs.
The
reality is that nothing lasts forever, but Jurgen Klopp will be hopeful that
the winning machine he has created can continue rumbling on, grinding down
opponents through their breathless attacking and ice-cool defensive nous. This
year’s Champions League final returns to the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, the
scene of Liverpool’s most famous night in European history. It would be fitting
if the Reds were to walk out there again next May, 15 years on from that joyful
night, to fully assert themselves as the dominant force in European football
once more.
Now that the dust has settled after Champions League victory and a league campaign that took them painfully close to the League Title, Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp now look to solidify the team and try to capture that elusive title. But who will come, who will stay, what do they need? Klopp has a habit of slow and steady builds so rule out for now the possibility of big sales, half a dozen new major arrivals or risky business. The side Klopp has built at Anfield is solid, with no major weaknesses and could well contend for major honours again without any input (see the example of Spurs!). But who will they be likely to go for?
Junior
Firpo is one name on the list that simply won’t go away and this is
would be a wise singing. Firpo is a tough defender, great in the air and
comfortable with the ball at his feet. He has impressed in major games for Real
Betis and coped with the best La Liga has to offer. He would make an ideal
partner for Van Dijk and vital cover if anything happened to the Dutchman. £50
million would be the rough asking price, but the investment would certainly
give Liverpool fans that added defensive security!
Kalidou
Koulibaly is another name linked with Anfield. This would be a more
pricey option at £100 million plus as he is considered one of the finest
defenders in the game and without doubt if he became available the problem
Liverpool would have is stiff competition from the biggest clubs in the world!
One name that would certainly excite fans is that of free-coring
midfielder Bruno
Fernandes who certainly has something of a Ronaldo esque feel about
him. Playing for Sporting Lisbon at present, he broke the record for a
midfielder last season knocking in 31 goals….and these were goals from
everywhere, inside and outside the box, free kicks, headers…you name it he
scored it. Man Utd seem to be front runners at the moment but Liverpool are
said to be keen and going to the reigning European Champions rather that a rebuilding Man Utd may be a more appealing
option!
And finally, a more familiar name that would certainly show
Liverpool’s ambitions is that of Ryan Sessengon. A true shining light in a
truly awful Fulham team last season, Sessengon deserves to be in a team that
compliments his ability and where he can showcase himself with and against the
elite. Him staying in the Premier League is a must, and where better than
Liverpool! He is a Klopp style player, has lots to prove, has great attacking
flair, is team-minded and has a work rate second to none! Fulham will ask for
big money but given his age and his potential, as well as the fact that he has
already proven himself in the English game, means he could well be one of the
best options for Anfield!