Jürgen Klopp may have around one-third of a season left to play, but the German giant has already cemented himself as one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever managers and certainly the best Premier League boss the Reds have ever seen.
To date, he’s added the UEFA Champions League (2018/19), UEFA Super Cup (2019), FIFA Club World Cup (2019), Community Shield (2022), EFL Cup (2021/22), FA Cup (2021/22), the EFL Cup again this year, and, of course, the Premier League in 2019/20 to the team honours cabinet. Still, there’s plenty more silverware on the line, including the all-important league title.
So, how many trophies will Klopp end his spell at Anfield with – and could he even go out with a mythical quadruple?
EFL Cup could be just one of many
In recent history, we’ve seen that winning the EFL Cup can give a very good team that extra bit of momentum to achieve perhaps more than was expected of them at the start of the season. Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Chelsea this year, courtesy of Virgil van Dijk in the 118th minute, could, in theory, power the Reds to further glory.
The feel-good factor from winning this midseason trophy certainly can’t be denied, but the eventual league winners aren’t first named EFL Cup winners nearly as often as you’d think. In fact, in the 31 seasons of Premier League play so far, the EFL Cup winner has only gone on to win the league seven times.
Those teams were Chelsea in 2005 and 2015, Manchester United in 2009, and, of course, Manchester City in 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2021. Perhaps our thinking that the EFL Cup can be an early indicator of Premier League champions comes from City’s recent conquests, but then again, they may just be a unique case owing to their dominance under Qatari ownership with Pep Guardiola at the helm.
Still, winning silverware proves a team’s credentials and has undoubtedly earned Liverpool favour in the rankings for other honours this season. As of 11th March, Liverpool are firmly set as the close second-favourites for the Premier League and FA Cup, as well as the Europa League favourites at 7/5 per the betting site odds.
City are, naturally, the favourites in the domestic competitions at 5/4 for the league and 5/6 for the FA Cup. However, with Liverpool at 2/1 for the Premier League and 7/2 for the cup, it’s clear that the oddsmakers are undecided, and the Cityzens haven’t yet done enough to be classed as the outright favourites.
Liverpool may even see some more honours come their way if all goes well. Naturally, winning the league will lend a star player more heavily to the PFA Player of the Season award. Right now, Rodri and Phil Foden lead the odds, but if Liverpool were to win, Mohamed Salah (15/2) or Van Dijk (7/1), who may leave when the boss goes, could quickly see their odds shorted and become the frontrunners for the prize.
Spurs could be king-makers
Naturally, we can’t know which teams Liverpool will end up facing in the cup competitions. Jürgen Klopp’s final run at the FA Cup sees him stare down our historic rivals Manchester United to get to the semi-final draw which is guaranteed to contain either Wolverhampton Wanderers or Coventry City.
In the Europa League, Sparta Praha are as good as dealt with as of 11th March, and the Reds would fancy themselves against pretty much any other team left standing in the quarter-finals. The main exception may be Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who remain undefeated at the time of writing.
In the Premier League, the competition that all Liverpool fans crave the most, it could all boil down to a select three consecutive games at the end of April and the beginning of May. On 20th April, Spurs host Manchester City. On 27th April, Spurs welcome rivals Arsenal to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Finally, on 4th May, Liverpool host Spurs.
If the title race remains as close as it is over the next five or so games, the club that obliterated top-four rivals Aston Villa 4-0 on 10th March could well be the king-makers. Liverpool have a huge advantage here as the last team to face them, but cup fixtures might hinder preparations if the chase is still on for the league.
Klopp’s excellent Liverpool team is very much among the frontrunners for three more trophies this season. It’d be quite some way to go if he were to collect a quadruple as he bows out of the club.