Liverpool did not miss the opportunity this week to highlight the fact that their latest set of record-breaking accounts – in terms of their £301.8m revenue, not their £19.8 loss – came in a year when they were the only club in Deloitte’s top 10 rich list without Champions League football. As an illustration of Liverpool’s continued global and commercial appeal, it was a justifiable boast. As a reflection of Jürgen Klopp’s fortunes, it will mark an alarming deterioration should it reappear in the financial results for 2017-18. The prospect is growing.
Klopp conceded the Premier League title had gone before Liverpool’s last home game against Tottenham Hotspur but not so “the holy grail” of Champions League qualification. That quest took another detour with the lamentable defeat on Monday at a suddenly re-energised Leicester City and will be in peril should Arsenal open up a four-point advantage over Liverpool, with a game in hand, by winning at Anfield on Saturday. Arsène Wenger’s team will have to show rare big-game character to shatter Liverpool’s unbeaten record against fellow top‑six clubs this season. And even that impressive return cannot comfort Klopp as it should, when his side’s failures against the lesser lights are becoming routine.
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