The EPL title race may go to the wire, but the team of the season has surely already been decided.
Whether they go on to be crowned champions or not, the team that deserves the honour has to be Liverpool.
Written off at the start, robbed of points by refereeing mistakes and decimated by injuries, they then ‘lost’ their manager.
Neutrals remember the Diaz ‘goal’, ‘Klopp’s kids’ and his decision to quit, but the details tend to be lost in the general mayhem.
And so it is worth recounting some to get an idea of the scale of Liverpool’s difficulties this season.
Alright, Jurgen Klopp is still there but his January announcement that he was leaving at the end of the season shocked the world, let alone his players.
With a third of the fixtures left to play, it could have caused a major derailment.
But if anything, it has probably worked the other way by galvanising both the squad and the fans into trying to provide a fitting sendoff to their beloved boss.
Still, they deserve credit for that. And, as we learned this week, Virgil van Dijk deserves special credit for giving the rousing speech that lifted the shell-shocked players.
According to Trent Alexander-Arnold, the giant Dutchman played a captain’s role in saying they should give Klopp the farewell he deserves.
The skipper said: “This is huge news that’s going to rock the footballing world but we can’t let it distract us, we have to use it as motivation.
“The manager has led us to so much success, he’s enabled us to fulfil our dreams, so we owe it to him to give everything we possibly can to give him the best send-off.”
Those inspirational words duly delivered, Van Dijk is said to be “dreading” the departure of the German and is still to renew his contract.
You can bet he’s not the only one uncertain about his future, with Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah in similar contract situations.
It also suggests that Klopp’s announcement, if taken the wrong way, could have undermined the season.
It was a campaign in which Liverpool had already far exceeded expectations. A top four place and a shot at the Europa League would have been the height of realistic ambition.
The 2024-25 season would have been when Liverpool 2.0 was expected to be ready for top honours again with Klopp still having two years more on his contract.
But the summer took a surprising turn with the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho after the club abandoned the pursuit of Jude Bellingham.
This ultimately led to four midfielders coming in instead of one or two.
Alexis MacAllister and Dominik Szoboszlai came early followed by Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo.
Endo was the real surprise but the Japanese has not only turned out to be an excellent No.6, he has allowed MacAllister to play in his preferred role of No.8 where he’s now flourishing.
Liverpool’s first and most infamous encounter with VAR this season came in September when they went down 2-1 to Spurs.
Not only was a perfectly good goal by Luis Diaz disallowed, they finished with nine men.
Even then they almost snatched it and only an unfortunate own goal at the death by Joel Matip gave all three points to Spurs.
The Reds were so outraged by officialdom that Klopp even semi-seriously suggested replaying the game but that was never going to happen.
Against Arsenal in December, the Reds should have had a penalty when Martin Odegaard handled but none was given.
And recently against City, when, in the dying embers of the game, Jeremy Doku raked his studs down MacAllister’s rib cage but there was still no penalty.
The game ended 1-1 but it could have been 3 points to Liverpool and none to City. Just as there would have been a double swing in points over Arsenal.
If all these decisions had gone Liverpool’s way – which they should have – it would not be as thrilling a title race as Jurgen Klopp’s men would have had a comfortable lead.
For the first two, errors were admitted by referees’ chief Howard Webb and apologies given. For the Doku incident, there was an unconvincing excuse.
But VAR – or the lack of it – has not been the only scourge the club has had to deal with.
Casualties came in waves with as many as 11 of the first team squad unavailable.
Yet until the last minute of the FA Cup fifth round tie with Manchester United last month, Klopp had his men on course for four trophies.
If the FA Cup was lost, the Carabao Cup was won and the Europa League remains a serious objective as, of course, does the League.
As big names went down one after another, up stepped a clutch of callow-faced teenagers that even fans had barely heard of.
Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Jayden Danns and Bobby Clark, to name but four, were outstanding and made you wonder if Klopp could be tempted back to guide their futures.
But the courage of the manager seemed to spread to the kids as they kept Liverpool’s season going.
And with the likes of Alisson, Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota expected back in training next week, and Curtis Jones already back, it will feel like a new team .
Or at least like one of Klopp’s late, impactful substitutions just at the right time.
With eight games to go, anything can still happen between the leading three.
There’s only a whisker between them and not much advantage in their remaining fixtures.
Arguably Liverpool’s toughest is on Sunday night at Old Trafford.
United’s form will go out of the window as they seek another consolation prize to add to the Cup victory to stop their most bitter rivals from drawing level with them on 20 league titles apiece.
Given what Liverpool have already endured, to this observer, it belongs to them whatever the result.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.