Well, there’s the easy way of doing things and the hard way.
In failing to beat Napoli on Wednesday we now have to face the pant-shredding anxiety of a Champions League shootout against Red Bull Salzburg.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the true mark of a champion is to be able to win well or to win ugly on any given day. The 2-1 triumph over Crystal Palace on Saturday wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but where before we might have dropped points against the Eagles this time around Jurgen Klopp’s men were ruthlessly efficient.
The international break came at a very satisfying time, by all accounts. The 3-1 demolition of Manchester City in our last outing confirmed our superiority over our nearest title challengers, and the enforced lay-off gave them plenty of time to consider the nine-point gap at the top of the table.
If nothing else, Jurgen Klopp proved in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Genk that he still retains the ability to shake things up and surprise people with his team selection. With one eye on Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City, the manager opted to make some rotations of his starting eleven – no surprise there.
’Don’t Expect Reds to Have Things All Their Own Way in the West Midlands’ was the headline of our preview for the Aston Villa game, and in the end we couldn’t have been any more accurate.
Behind for 66 minutes and never ahead inside the regulation 90, there can be no doubt that while Liverpool were the better side, the Villains deserved something from the game. But football can be a cruel old sport at times, while winning is a habit and other such clichés.