It is a feat never before achieved, but could Liverpool really win the quadruple this season? Jason Pettigrove looks at how likely it is they will.
As we ease into mid-March, the business end of the 2021/22 season appears over the horizon.
That final push to get over the line in all competitions when only the bravest and strongest will survive.
It’s the period of every campaign when injuries or a lack of strength in depth bite really hard.
In order for clubs to get anywhere close to the game’s big titles, there needs to be a mixture of good fortune and good planning allied to good play.
Every so often it comes together, but the fact that Manchester United are the only English team to have ever won the treble of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League, way back in 1999, hints at how difficult a task it remains.
No one has ever done the quadruple, which would see the League Cup added to those titles above.
There’ve been previous occasions when it’s looked possible, only for those teams in with a shout to end up falling away.
Whisper it quietly, however, Liverpool look to be in rude health as they approach the next few weeks.
Having just beaten Chelsea in surely what must count as the best 0-0 draw in English football history, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds already have the League Cup tucked away in their trophy cabinet.
A favourable FA Cup draw is likely to see them ease into the semi-finals and though Chelsea and Manchester City are still likely to be in the competition too, neither opponent is insurmountable.
Nor any other that’s left in the hat for the oldest club competition in the world.
City would appear to present Liverpool’s sternest test in the race for the Premier League title too but simply put, if the Merseysiders can win their remaining 11 games, they’ll be champions again. It’s that simple.
Given that their first title in 30 years was won in front of empty stadiums thanks to the pandemic, the thought of bagging another in front of a full Anfield must be intoxicating to all.
Fixtures at Brighton and Arsenal won’t be easy, nor at Man City. Watford and Newcastle might be scrapping for their Premier League lives too. However, no fixtures in their last 11 should give Liverpool nightmares, particularly the way they’re playing at present.
Football is all about momentum and Klopp has it building at just the right time again.
Inter will be swept aside in the Champions League and looking at the other teams left in the premier European competition and expected to go through, once again, only Man City and Chelsea, last season’s finalists, would appear to pose any sort of threat.
Real Madrid can grind out a result but are susceptible on the break, whilst PSG also buckle when pressured.
The French giants are far too reliant on Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi having the games of their lives, and Liverpool have more than enough about them in defence to cope.
This could be the year that history is made…
