The ‘special’ sign Liverpool can go far in unthinkable quest for quadruple | OneFootball

Arne Slot did not use the word, though Jurgen Klopp became quite familiar with it. In two of the German’s last three campaigns, Liverpool challenged for the quadruple. Last season, their bid for glory on four fronts lasted until the end of March, until they were knocked out of the FA Cup after an epic comeback from bitter rivals Manchester United. Two years earlier, they came closer than anyone arguably ever has, reaching the penultimate game of the campaign with a chance of four trophies. They ended 2021-22, however, without the two biggest prizes: runners-up in the Premier League, they became beaten finalists in the Champions League.

They came second in the two competitions that matter most. Now they are first in each, with a commanding lead in the Premier League and the only 100 percent record in the Champions League. With an FA Cup third-round tie at home to Accrington, it is safe to say a quadruple will at least remain a potential outcome into February; it is a side effect of a month’s gap between the two legs of the Carabao Cup semi-finals. And as Liverpool return to Tottenham a few weeks after a 6-3 win there, they are favourites when they face Ange Postecoglou’s entertainers again on Wednesday.

Some early-season pacesetters can fade away. Some are tripped up. Liverpool led the Premier League for more days than anyone else last season. But then Arsenal and Manchester City finished at such a speed to overtake them when they stumbled. Now the competition looks less intense and, Slot feels, his team are not in a false position. Liverpool have a lone defeat in 28 games in all competitions this season, none in the last 24. Their head coach believes results are not deceptive. That, he thinks, gives them a chance of sustaining this form.

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Arne Slot’s Liverpool are still in the hunt for four trophies (AP)

“It is very difficult for me to compare last season with this,” he said. “The only thing I do know is what gives me the most confidence to look forward to the coming weeks and months is that till now we haven’t stolen one point. All the points we got were fully deserved and I think even in some moments we deserved more than we got when we dropped points. That is the best forecast you can have for the second half of the season.”

The other element that offers him encouragement is the cast list. Joe Gomez is injured, but he has little company on the treatment table. “Almost all are fit, that is special at this time of the season, and I would also highlight that these players show up every three days,” Slot said. The consistency of his players helps explain that unbeaten run. Being consistently available helps. Injuries derailed them last season. For months, Slot’s predecessor did wonderfully well with a depleted group, winning the Carabao Cup with his “kindergarten Klopp”. But others were overworked; it finally caught up with them. The danger is resources get stretched too thinly, though it is not as simple as saying an early Carabao Cup exit in 2021-22 or 2023-24 would have enabled Liverpool to become Premier League champions.

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Slot could take a giant step towards a first cup final as Liverpool boss this week (PA)

But the broader theme is that the quadruple hasn’t been done because it can’t be done: because over 60 games and four competitions, something will go wrong. It can be the vagaries of knockout football, with a deflection or a decision, an inspired moment from an opponent, or an error. It can be that a side peaks too early or too late. In 2021-22, Liverpool were at their best in April, not a Champions League final at the end of May. It still took an outstanding performance from Thibaut Courtois to stop them from scoring in Paris.

Last season, their Europa League run was ended amid mistakes from the previously excellent Caoimhin Kelleher against Atalanta. They had gone out of the FA Cup when Harvey Elliott, already a scorer, gave the ball away at Old Trafford and Amad Diallo provided a decisive moment of brilliance.

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Liverpool are top of both the Premier League and Champions League and face Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-finals (Action Images/Reuters)

All of which may mean the trophy Liverpool are likeliest to win this season could be the Premier League; Opta give them an 89.3 percent chance of becoming champions of a competition where one off-day probably would not be terminal. Overcome Tottenham and their Carabao Cup final opponents would be either Arsenal or Newcastle, who have both already drawn with Liverpool this season. It is an illustration that, for obvious reasons, the strongest sides tend to congregate at the business end of tournaments.

The Champions League is forever a case in point, but with an added element of unpredictability amid a new format. It is uncontroversial to call Liverpool the best team in Europe this season. It is also possible that their reward for topping the group and progressing as first seeds is, because of the struggles of others, a last-16 tie with Real Madrid, Juventus or City. It is plausible their quarter-final opponents could be Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid or Internazionale.

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Slot during a training session (Liverpool FC/Getty)

The probability is that it will get harder for Liverpool: perhaps at Tottenham or next week at Nottingham Forest, certainly from the end of February when the fixture list looks more demanding and the stakes grow higher. But until then, it feels feasible that Slot, like Klopp before him, will be overseeing a quadruple bid.