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By Jonathan Lewis | 7th Mar 2023
If Liverpool’s 5-2 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid wasn’t a wake-up call for the club, then it’s hard to know what is. Whether Jurgen Klopp’s team manages to turn the tie around or not shouldn’t take anything away from the fact that Liverpool were just blown away by the reigning European champions.
It wasn’t just a loss, it was a right royal thrashing from Madrid. And despite being the current champions of Europe, this isn’t a vintage Real side. At moments like this, the writing is generally already on the wall. It happened at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, and it will at some stage no doubt also happen to Pep Guardiola’s team at City. The facts are, sometimes a team simply hits the end of the road.
Liverpool’s rebuilding process already looks underway
This is by no means a criticism of Klopp. The popular German – it could be argued – had seen this coming. He purchased young blood in the summer, going out and getting the likes of Darwin Nunez, and in January he also added Cody Gakpo. Both players for the future.
OFFICIAL: Liverpool sign Darwin Núñez from Benfica on a long-term contract.
That new-look front three 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JC9jY15BYy
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 14, 2022
But Reds’ fans might argue that they were simply signings (Nunez in particular) to replace the departing Sadio Mane, and weren’t investments in the future. But the reality is that they were both. They are players that aren’t the finished article like Mane was for Liverpool, and Salah still is. They are players that the team can be built around in the future.
Expecting these guys to pick up where Mane left off isn’t going to happen. It’s going to take time, but it already looks like the process has begun.
Bookmakers didn’t anticipate such problems for Liverpool
Plenty of seasoned observers didn’t see Liverpool’s capitulation coming this season. At the end of the 2021/22 campaign, Liverpool were in good health. They had come within a whisker – or two – of landing a quadruple, so why would anyone think they would fall away so badly this season?
The bookmakers didn’t see it coming either, and they are normally good at spotting problems on the horizon. At the start of the season, Liverpool were second favourites behind Manchester City in the betting to win the Premier League, and in the cluster of clubs (along with Bayern Munich and PSG) behind City in the betting to win the Champions League.
Liverpool are currently 500/1 to win the Premier League. They are also 7/4 to finish in the top four in the Premier League. To put those top four finish odds into perspective, Man United are 1/10, Tottenham are 5/4 and Newcastle are 6/4. This is how far the Reds have fallen behind this season. Unsurprisingly given the unpredictable nature of Liverpool’s performances, the in play markets are popular for bettors looking to wager on Liverpool. As well as betting on the match outcome live, there are also alternative bet in play football markets available, such as over and under 2.5 goals, or total corners. Depending on how the match is going, they provide a variety of different routes for bettors to go down.
🔴🏆⚪️ Liverpool went from 2-0 up to 2-5 down at Anfield as they suffered their largest home European defeat to reigning champions, Real Madrid…
📝 @joeythehoss#UCL | #LIVRMA pic.twitter.com/lHeVrqRWqI
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) February 21, 2023
Patience is required
It might be rare in football these days, but patience is required. Sir Alex Ferguson rebuilt his Manchester United team on numerous occasions, and there is nothing to suggest that Klopp can’t do the same at Liverpool. As is usually the issue these days, the real question is, will he be given the time to complete his rebuilding job?