February Falters As Liverpool March Into Spring

Looking Back - February

All good things. Liverpool’s unbeaten league record came to an end on Leap Day when they lost to Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road. Among other things, it was also the first time that Liverpool have been shut out this season. It feels like the rigors of the season have finally caught up with the players.

That, along with the absence of both Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez from the team, lead to a sharp decline in performance. In addition to the Watford loss, Liverpool also fell to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Round of 16. They lost 1-0 in the Spanish capital, but in March they’ll have a chance to overcome that deficit at Anfield.

There were some bright parts to the month, of course. They are 22 points above Manchester City, though City has a game in hand. They are four wins away from their first Premier League title in the last 30 years. They won three out of their four league games, including a comeback victory against West Ham that means they now share the record for the most consecutive league wins along with Manchester City.

They also managed to get passed Shrewsbury in the replay to make it into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Overall, Liverpool scored nine goals and conceded six in their six matches over three competitions in February.

Here’s how Liverpool’s February goals broke down in all competitions:

• Mohamed Salah - 3
• Sadio Mane - 2
• Gini Wijnaldum - 1
• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 1
• Jordan Henderson - 1
• Own goal - 1

Looking Forward - March

The Merseyside derby beckons next month when Liverpool head down the block to Goodison Park.

First up, though, is a match against Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup. It remains to be seen if Klopp will field a young team as he did against Shrewsbury or if we’ll see more senior players represented.

The biggest game of the month will be the return fixture against Atletico Madrid. The Reds will have to overcome a one-goal deficit in order to move onto the quarterfinals. The month of games end early so that the players can go off on international duty.

Liverpool’s Full March Schedule:

Tues, Mar 3 - Chelsea (a) (FA Cup)
Sat, Mar 7 - Bournemouth (h) (Premier League)
Wed, Mar 11 - Atletico Madrid (h) (Champions League)
Mon, Mar 16 - Everton (a) (Premier League)
Sat, Mar 21 - Crystal Palace (h) (Premier League)

Now it’s your turn to sound off in the comments. Will Liverpool pull themselves out of this mini-slump, or will the spring bring more problems for the Reds.