They only lost one Premier League match last season but Patrik Berger is convinced Liverpool must improve in the upcoming campaign to win that elusive first title in 30 years.
Jurgen Klopp’s men missed out on the domestic crown in agonising fashion, finishing one point behind Manchester City. The pair left the rest trailing behind, with Liverpool finishing 25 points ahead of Chelsea in third and 26 in front of fourth-placed Tottenham.
That’s enough to convince many that we’ll see another two-horse race for the title this season.
But former Anfield favourite Berger believes the European champions will need to keep getting better to maintain that gap, because nothing in English football can ever be taken for granted.
The 45-year-old ex-Czech Republic midfielder said: “I said at the time that the only thing Liverpool could do was win every single game until the end of the season and hope that Manchester City dropped points. They didn’t, but the boys couldn’t have done more. It just wasn’t enough at the end.
“It was a magnificent season. They played some brilliant football, they were unbeaten at Anfield in the league and they should be very proud of the way they played.
“What Manchester City have done is unbelievable. You can only put your hands up and say they were too good for the last two seasons. But Liverpool have taken a huge step closer to Manchester City and in any other season they would have been crowned champions.
“At least they know they are at the same level and know they can challenge for the Premier League next season. But remember that two years ago Chelsea were the champions and you thought that they would be right up there for the foreseeable future. That didn’t happen.
“And I think that shows Liverpool and even Manchester City must keep on improving their squad and keep the same quality and hunger in order to be up there again next season.”
Berger is right — nothing stands still in football.
The season before Chelsea won the title in 2017, they had finished 10th, below Stoke, West Ham and Southampton. Champions in 2016, Leicester had ended the season before their shock title-winning campaign just six points off relegation.
The chances of another underdog ever emerging from the pack as Leicester did are remote. But it does illustrate the unpredictable nature of the Premier League and the huge swings in fortune that clubs can go through.
Even City lost four matches over the course of their triumphant campaign. That included three defeats over four games – to Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester – in a miserable December for Pep Guardiola’s otherwise consistent side.
For Liverpool, only defeat to the champions at the Etihad in early January blotted an otherwise imperious top-flight campaign – and yet they still finished second.
And Berger says Liverpool and City are definitely there to be shot at.
The Czech legend added: “I don’t really expect the other teams to be that far behind Liverpool and City again next season. I think they’ll strengthen and they’ll get much closer. Liverpool and City were almost playing in a different competition last time and the others far, far behind. I’m just not sure that will be happening again.”
