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Since their defeat against Tottenham on October 22nd, Liverpool have now gone 18 games unbeaten, recording ten wins and four draws in the league, two wins and a draw in Europe, and a win against Everton in the FA Cup. It’s been a good run, the run of a side in form second only to Manchester City in England.
They can’t take the results for granted, though, against Swansea City. The Swans may be relegation favourites—they currently sit last, six points from safety—but they’re the sort of opponent Liverpool have struggled to see off in the past and they will need to guard against taking the three points for granted.
“It can change very quickly,” goalkeeper Loris Karius warned as he looked ahead to the match. “We have to put our heads down and keep working hard. Every point matters for these teams—but also for us. It’s getting very intense. They maybe feel a lot of pressure. We can’t focus on that, we have to focus on us.”
Part of Liverpool’s need to focus on themselves and guarding against complacency comes from just how easily they swept Swansea aside in their last meeting, on December 26th, a week after the floundering Swans had sacked manager Paul Clement. Two days later, they appointed a new manager, Carlos Carvalhal.
Since then, they have a win, draw, and loss in the league as well as a victory in the FA Cup over Championship high fliers Wolves—though that took a replay for them to come out ahead in. Liverpool will still rightly be heavy favourites, but since Carvalhal’s appointment Swans have been better than their position.
If Liverpool play to their potential, though. If they don’t take the three points for granted and don’t take Swansea lightly based on how easily they brushed today’s opponents aside in their last meeting, there should only be one result today. That’s what Liverpool have to focus on, and Karius says they’re ready.
“We’ll be ready, we’ll be well prepared,” Karius added. “We [have had] a long week training for it with no midweek game. We’ll go there full of confidence and try to get the win.”