Jurgen Klopp’s legendary nine years at Liverpool were brought to a close with a Carabao Cup win, but it could have been a much different story if it was this season’s Premier League.
We’re six games from the end of the 2025/26 campaign, with a teetering Arsenal leading the way in the standings. They hold a healthy-ish lead over Man City, but look quite vulnerable in recent weeks.
Klopp’s final season at Liverpool ended in a third-place finish in the Premier League, but had his farewell tour been this season, they would be favourites to lift the trophy come the end of May.
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Liverpool v Fulham - Premier League
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Jurgen Klopp’s last dance at Liverpool good enough to beat Arsenal this season
That 2023/24 campaign was box office. A three-horse race at the top of the table ended with City lifting the title after the Reds teetered off in the final weeks.
But at this exact point in the campaign, with 32 games played. Liverpool were on 71 points. Right now, Arsenal are on 70. That’s just one reason why Klopp’s Liverpool would have been favourites to top the table.
The Reds had a goal difference of 41, with 72 goals for and 31 against, playing some of the best football on show in the division alongside Pep’s City. This season, Arsenal have a goal difference of 38, with 62 goals for and 24 conceded.
The real separator, though, and the reason why Arsenal always seem to be the bridesmaid, is a lack of star power.
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Two seasons ago, Liverpool had three players hitting double figures in the league. Mohamed Salah (18), Darwin Nunez (11) and Diogo Jota (10). Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz had eight each. They could devastate pretty much any defence.
Mohamed Salah and Darwin nUNEZ
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Arsenal this season are toothless going forward, saved by an admittedly world-class defensive line. But when the going gets tough, like against Bournemouth on Saturday, they don’t have the solutions. They create just 0.19 xG from open play at home.
Aside from Viktor Gyokeres, no player has more than six league goals this season.
It’s not to say that Arsenal aren’t a good team. They have to be to find themselves in this position. The point here is more that Klopp’s farewell — in another season — could have ended in the perfect way.
Craig Burley and Jan Aage Fjortoft on Arsenal’s missing edge and Liverpool comparison
I’m not the only one who thinks this Arsenal squad is lacking compared to Liverpool and City teams of the past.
Former Premier League striker Jan Aage Fjortoft said on ESPN after the weekend’s capitulation against Bournemouth: “If you’re going to win titles, you need Yes, you can have a great squad, you can have a great bench, but you need your star players to produce.
“And that’s what I mean. And that’s especially related to [Bukayo] Saka and to [Declan] Rice, the big, big players. And they’re not big at the moment, unfortunately for Arsenal fans.”
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Liverpool's Andy Robertson lifts the Premier League trophy in front of the Kop at Anfield on the final day of the season (Credit: Getty Images/Sebastian Frej).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Sebastian Frej
To hammer that point home, fellow pundit Craig Burley uses a Liverpool case.
He adds: “Yeah. Because when City were doing it and Liverpool were doing it, it was Van Dijk and it was Salah and some others, and it was Rodri and it was Erling Haaland and it was one or two others.
“The real, you know, the big stars, the leaders in there who were taking the team on their shoulders.”
This is basically my point. Arsenal are well-positioned still to close out this title run, but they have left the door open for City. That has happened because they have lacked the individual moments that carry the best teams through their rough patches.
It’s why, if Klopp’s final iteration of Liverpool were playing this season, you would back the German to get the job done rather than Mikel Arteta.
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