How to follow perfection? This being the Liverpool of 2022-23, a 7-0 torching of Manchester United was succeeded by defeat to relegation-threatened Bournemouth, with Mohamed Salah clanking a penalty wide in the style of Chris Waddle, 1990 vintage. That the same opposition were defeated 9-0 at Anfield in August further augmented the sense of ridiculous unpredictability.
What had seemed a fait accompli, Liverpool rescuing a disappointing season with a top-four place, can no longer be considered certain. Jürgen Klopp’s team have become a combination of high-end brilliance and low-end mediocrity, often comically awful to watch, way too unreliable to be counted on.
