Liverpool Pass Tough December Test But Face Everton and Manchester United in January

Looking Back - December

Liverpool ended 2019 as they lived it: by winning a lot of games. The team played an absurd nine games over the month of December and managed to come away winners in eight of them. The only anomaly, their graceless Carabao Cup exit against Aston Villa, was played by the academy kids while the main squad was in Qatar.

They brought back another fine bit of silverware from Qatar by winning the Club World Cup and officially becoming the best team in the world. Those two victories were thanks to Roberto Firmino, who had just about enough of your narratives on him and finished December with four goals in all competitions.

In the league, the Reds’ lead at the top of the table, which had been eight points to start the month, has widened to a whopping 13 points against Leicester City and 14 against titleholders Manchester City. They picked up a perfect 15 out of 15 possible points in their five league games, including the Merseyside derby where they clobbered Everton 5-2. The biggest game, though, was against their closest rivals Leicester City which took place on Boxing Day. That 4-0 victory felt pretty sweet.

In the Champions League, a win against Salzburg meant that Liverpool topped their group, and were then faced with taking on Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16.

Another huge positive that fans can take from the December fixtures were the six clean sheets they managed in all competitions. We talked about how that was a concern last month, but they’ve seemed to have taken care of that problem as the month wore on.

Liverpool scored a ridiculous 20 goals in their nine games in December in all competitions, while only conceding eight. Here’s how the goals broke down:

• Roberto Firmino - 4
• Mohamed Salah - 4
• Naby Keita - 3
• Sadio Mane - 2
• Divock Origi - 2
• James Milner - 1
• Trent Alexander-Arnold - 1
• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 1
• Gini Wijnaldum - 1
• Xherdan Shaqiri - 1

Looking Forward - January

Liverpool have to deal with a relatively tame fixture list to start the new year. A mere six games in two competitions await them, including another Merseyside derby in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Liverpool also have a chance to right a wrong when they challenge Manchester United at Anfield. United are the only team that came away from a league game against the Reds with any points, managing a draw at Old Trafford the last time around. Liverpool will definitely want to rectify that.

Other good news is that, barring anything bad happening, Fabinho should be back with the team sometime this month. His absense has been felt. We’ll also get to see if new addition Takumi Minamino gets a chance to show off what he can do this month, or if Klopp will take some time to bed him in.

The January transfer window officially starts on January 1st, so it’s possible that Minamino might not be the only player coming in or heading out for Liverpool.

Liverpool’s Full January Schedule:

Thurs, Jan 2 - Sheffield United (h) (Premier League)
Sun, Jan 5 - Everton (h) (FA Cup)
Sat, Jan 11 - Tottenham (a) (Premier League)
Sun, Jan 19 - Manchester United (h) (Premier League)
Thurs, Jan 23 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (a) (Premier League)
Wed, Jan 29 - West Ham (h) (Premier League)

Now it’s your turn to sound off in the comments. Will Liverpool extend their lead in the league? Will they make it past Everton to advance in the FA Cup? Let us know!