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Last week was an important one for Liverpool, seeing off Manchester City and Swansea in the league, and securing qualification to the knock-out rounds of the Europa League. The Reds currently sit 6th in the league, a position they've not held since August 29th on the strength of 3 wins in the last 4 (a run that has seen wins in 6 of the last 7 across all competitions).
Suddenly, new boss Jürgen Klopp has Liverpool firing on all cylinders, and picking up hard-fought wins along the way. Vice captain and recent match-winner James Milner sees our current form as a good sign as the club enters a fixture-filled holiday month.
"This is always a crucial period. The league table always looks so much different at the beginning to mid-January than what he does at the start of December," the vice captain said. "You see suspensions and injuries taking hold and teams losing and gaining form. It is a great time to be in good form going into this Christmas period and hopefully we can keep it going."
Milner also pointed to off-the-pitch improvements, namely the stadium expansion and a certain charismatic Swabian, as reasons why Reds should be excited at the moment.
"It is a talented squad of players, we have a great mix of youth and experience and obviously a new manager. The stadium is being upgraded as well so I think it is a great time to be involved at the club. It is exciting times for everyone. If we keep working hard, keep improving, keep doing our job then hopefully we can be successful."
"We just want to keep getting the wins on the board and hopefully get into January and February and still be in all the cup competitions and give ourselves a shot in one of the cups, see where we are in the league and assess it from there."
A cup win this season, even in the lowly League Cup, would be a huge step in the right direction for a club wanting to get back to its former trophy-lifting ways. Of course, good form is only as good as the next game, so hopefully Klopp can keep the players focused as they try to continue their cup runs and improve league table position simultaneously.