Liverpool have started this season well, but judging by Klopp’s starts at Dortmund, what could it mean for this season?
Liverpool’s start to the season has been a pretty impressive one which sees them sitting in fourth place in the Premier League after seven games.
The Reds were handed a difficult set of fixtures with five of their first seven games on the road, and visits to Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea among their fixtures, as well as a home clash with the surprise champions of last season Leicester City.
The only real blot on their copybook was the 2-0 defeat to Burnley on the second week of the season, and they are now two points behind league leaders Manchester City with many bookies pricing the Reds as second favourites for the title.
So how does this start compare to those Klopp had with his time at Borussia Dortmund, where he guided them to back-to-back Bundesliga titles? Here we look at the first seven Bundesliga games in all seven of his seasons – and where they ended up eventually:
2008/09:
Klopp had taken over a Dortmund side that had finished in 13th position the season before, so the start of the season he presided over following that in the early stages of his reign will probably have been regarded as positive.
They took 12 points from their opening seven games which started off with a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen before a home draw with Bayern Munich. Wins followed against Energie Cottbus and Stuttgart while the stand-out game was perhaps their derby match against Schalke – which saw Klopp’s Dortmund come from 3-0 down to draw 3-3.
It would result in a solid, positive season for Klopp’s side who finished sixth in the Bundesliga with 59 points.
2009/10:
Despite starting the following season with a home win over Cologne, Klopp’s Dortmund struggled at the start of his second season in charge – taking just a total of six points from their opening seven games.
That start to the season saw his side on the end of hammerings to Hamburg and Dortmund but they would recover from it and end up finishing fifth in the Bundesliga – securing qualification for the Europa League – with 57 points.
2010/11:
The first title winning season actually started with a defeat to the side that would emerge as their closest challengers that season, with Bayer Leverkusen overcoming Dortmund 2-0 on their own patch. They would win their next six games to make it 18 points from their opening seven games which also featured a 2-0 home win over Louis van Gaal’s Bayern Munich. They were the reigning champions, and had reached the final of the Champions League the previous season.
Klopp’s side would go on to win the league, finishing seven points clear of the chasing pack.
2011/12:
Their title defence wouldn’t get off to the smoothest of starts as the early part of the season saw them lose to Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin and Hannover as Dortmund took 10 points from their opening seven games.
Their start was of little consequence as Klopp’s side managed to top the previous season by going unbeaten for the rest of the campaign in all domestic games – culminating in a second Bundesliga title, finishing on 81 points, and winning the DFK Pokal as they dismantled Bayern Munich 5-2 in the final.
2012/13:
It was always going to be a difficult task for Dortmund to win a third title on the bounce. Their first seven games saw them collect 12 points from their opening seven games – marginally better than last term but unable to find that consistency that would allow them to seriously challenge a rejuvenated Bayern Munich.
Dortmund started off the season winning their first three home games but couldn’t seem to win on the road in the early stages of the season with draws against Nurnberg, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover – along with a defeat to Hamburg. They would finish second with 66 points.
His side would go on a remarkable run to the Champions League final, but Bayern would beat his side to that prize as well as the two main domestic prizes, courtesy of a late Arjen Robben winner at Wembley.
2013/14:
Klopp seemed to have his side a little ‘angry’ at the start of the following season as they hit the ground running with 19 points from their opening seven games and scoring 21 goals in the process – which suggested they could challenge a Bayern side now under the guidance of Pep Guardiola.
They’d lose their eighth game to Borussia Monchengladbach, and encounter some difficult form in December but would solidly finish in second place again on 71 points, but without silverware.
2014/15:
This would be the blot on the copybook for Klopp’s time at Dortmund as they endured a nightmare start to the season. After seven games, his side had just collected the seven points from seven games. His side suffered defeats to Leverkusen, Mainz, Schalke and to a struggling Hamburg side in what was a sign of things to come.
At the mid-point of the season there was even suggestions they could be relegated as the languished in the relegation zone, but they turned things around enough to finish in seventh place with 46 points. Despite knocking Bayern out of the DFB Pokal, there would be no farewell silverware as they lost the final 2-0 to Wolfsburg.
Is there anything for Liverpool to take from those starts?
If the Reds sustain their good start to the campaign, then they could be in for an almighty tussle at the top of the Premier League, though they will have to avoid too many defeats that would seem baffling to those watching from afar.
As time went on at Dortmund, Klopp lost his star players, the season he had his star men available was the time his side really challenged. A good start does not mean everything, his best start to a league campaign didn’t deliver the title, and a longer period of consistently good form would only then suggest Liverpool are among the title challengers for this season.
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