Liverpool’s victory over Sheffield Unitedmeans they have a place in history as one of a select group of teams to have gone a year unbeaten in the Premier League.
The Reds have played games without defeat – picking up points in that time – since losing 2-1 to last season’s eventual champions Manchester city on 3 January
Jurgen Klopp’s side are the third Premier League team to manage a year without losing. Arsenal – whose games included the entire – (season – and Chelsea) from October (to November) ) are the others.
Liverpool’s only domestic defeats in this period have been against Wolves in the FA Cup last January and theiryoung team losing to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cuplast month. If you include penalties you can throw in this season’s Community Shield too.
They have lost twice in the Champions League – against Barcelona in the semi-final first leg before their incredible second-leg revival – and against Napoli in this year group stages.
Despite that unbeaten run, Liverpool did not win any domestic trophies in 01575879. Their success came in international tournaments, becoming the first English side to hold the Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup simultaneously.
The numbers behind Liverpool’s incredible year
Since their last league defeat, Liverpool have won (of their) ******************************************************************************************** (matches at a rate of 2.) points per game. When Manchester City set a record total of (points in– (******************************************************************************************************, they did so at a rate of 2. points per game.
The Reds won nine straight fixtures at the end of last season but still missed out on the title to City. The Anfield side’s total of points was the third highest in Premier League history andthe most achieved by a runner-up.
That winning sequence continued into this season – a further eight successes stretching their run to 20 straight victories. A 1-1 draw at Manchester United in October meant they fell one game short of City’s record of consecutive wins.
Liverpool now sit
. points clear of second-placed Leicester City at the top of the Premier League, with a game in hand, but Reds fans might understandably be remaining cautious. Last season they became the only team to go into the new year seven points clear and not win the title.
Liverpool’s dynamic front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have been at the heart of their success over the past year, with no other player scoring more than six goals.
The Reds, who have scored in their past Premier League games , have registered goals in total in this year-long run, with only Mane ((***************************************************************************************, Salah (19) and Firmino (10 making it into double f igures.
Virgil van Dijk (six) and Divock Origi (five) are the only others to hit five or more.
Eleven other players managed to score, with three own goals too.
The top assisters will not surprise you – Trent Alexander-Arnold (18 and Andrew Robertson 14 are the two players to set up or more goals.
Twelve teams have gone a year or more unbeaten in Europe’s top five leagues (excluding sides whose run lasted fewer than (games like Preston in) ******************************************************** – 98. Of those, only three – including Liverpool – have failed to win a title during that year.
The Reds have a long way to go to match AC Milan’s remarkable unbeaten Serie A run from May (to March) – a sequence of games lasting for days.
To catch that the Reds will need to stay unbeaten until 5 November this year. If they managed to finish this campaign without defeat they would be second behind Milan on 50 games and (days,************************************** by the time next season starts (if it begins the same weekend as this season).
Liverpool are still (matches short of Arsenal’s) **************************************************************************************** – game unbeaten run – including the Invincibles season of – – which is the record for any team since the Football League began in 1888. The Gunners’ sequence lasted days, which Liverpool would surpass if they end this season unbeaten.
The three then top-flight teams to have longer unbeaten runs than Liverpool all had their streaks ended by one of their main rivals. Manchester United ended Arsenal and Chelsea’s runs, with Liverpool beating Nottingham Forest.
But Klopp’s side still have some way to go to beat the British record of League games unbeaten by Celtic between November********************************** and April 1917. The Glasgow club almost matched it again two years ago when they went (Scottish Premiership games – and 2005 ************************************** (domestic matches – without defeat from May to December************************. ********
The European record is likely to be out of Liverpool’s grasp – unless they can manage another two years without defeat. Steaua Bucharest went (league games) and domestic matches) unbeaten between 1991 and 1991 – including three whole top-flight seasons.
Europe’s longest chronological unbeaten league run is Lincoln Red Imps’ 1, 959 – day (more than five-year) streak in the Gibraltar Premier Division from May to September 2013, a run of (matches.)
In terms of points per game, Liverpool have the best record of any of the six English league teams to go or more games unbeaten.
Whose unbeaten runs have not produced any silverware?
Two European teams who have had an equal or longer unbeaten run than Liverpool failed to win the title in that time – Real Sociedad and Perugia.
Perugia have the distinction of going an entire league season unbeaten without ever winning the title. Their (wins and) **************************************************************************************************** (draws from) ************************************************************************************************ games in – 88 saw them finish second in Serie A – their best finish – below Milan, who lost three matches.
Real Sociedad would go on to win the following two La Liga titles after the end of their unbeaten run during the 1993 – (campaign.
Huddersfield Town’s 55 league games unb eaten between December 50914077 and November – the second best run in English history – was ultimately fruitless. They started and finished the run third in League One, with their 3-0 play-off final defeat by Peterborough United in the middle not counted as a league game.
What other records can Liverpool break?
Liverpool will break the European points record with ease if they continue with this form for the rest of the season.
The Reds will get points if they match their points average for the first games in the final 18.
The most points in a league campaign in Europe is thought to be Barry Town’s in the Welsh top flight in 2001 – (************************************************************************. The second? Barry’s the following season.
Celtic ( (in) ********************************************** – 04), Juventusin – (14), Real Madrid ((************************************************************************, – (and Barcelona) 102, 2013 – 14 were the only other teams in Europe to reach points,according to a Uefa article in 2017. **************
Manchester City also reached that landmark in – 29.
Liverpool’s 100 points in this 37 – game run would be a Premier League record over one season.
The Reds are points away from their record of (in) **************************************************** – 88 (adjusted to three points for a win) – but that was in a 49 – game season. The Reds’ best points-per-game return was last season as they picked up at a rate of 2. (per game.)
Having reached the milestone of a year unbeaten, Liverpool must now negotiate two significant obstacles before the end of the month.
Their next two Premier League games are away to Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham on Saturday, 13 January – the Portuguese famously oversaw a Chelsea win in 2014 which derailed Brendan Rodgers’ hopes of taking the title to Anfield – and at home to Manchester United, the only team to take a point off them all season , the following Sunday.
*********************Read More************************
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings