Liverpool: Logistics of winning league discussed by expert
Liverpool's quality in defence now is the biggest difference compared to their team that almost won the Premier League title in 2014, says Manchester United legend Gary Neville. Liverpool came close to clinching their first title in 24 years in the 2013/14 season. However, a slip-up in the closing stages of the campaign opened the door for Manchester City to edge above the Reds and finish top of the pile.
Liverpool's penultimate game of the campaign saw them throw away a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 at Crystal Palace.
The match at Selhurst Park exposed the defensive fragilities of Brendan Rodgers' team.
Neville says there were similarities between the Liverpool midfield and attack then and what it is like now but says it is the defence that has been the biggest improvement.
Liverpool were 25 points clear at the top of the table this season when football was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Liverpool news: Gary Neville has highlighted the difference between Liverpool now and in 2014 (Image: GETTY/SKY SPORTS)
"If you look back to that team, there are some comparisons with this current Liverpool team," Neville said on Sky Sports' The Football Show.
"The difference being that the back five that this current Liverpool team have got is just absolutely head and shoulders above the back five that the team that we saw there had, if you just put them down side by side.
"But if you look at [Raheem] Sterling, [Daniel] Sturridge and [Luis] Suarez, I know that we rave about [Sadio] Mane, [Roberto] Firmino and [Mohamed] Salah and rightly so, they're absolutely breathtaking.
"But that front three, Suarez is as good as it gets, I think is as good as it gets, we know what Raheem Sterling is like, Daniel Sturridge in terms of his quality in and around that.
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"Then obviously in midfield you had Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson, so that team does have some similarities in qualities to the current Liverpool team but the back five that the team has now with Alisson and [Virgil] Van Dijk and the two full-backs is just outstanding.
"That's the big difference."
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher says the 2014 team relied largely on Suarez outscoring the opposition.
"The fragility of Liverpool defensively throughout that season was always there," Carragher said.
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Liverpool news: The Reds came so close to winning the Premier League in 2014 (Image: EXPRESS)
"It was just whether Suarez was that good that he could mask that, and he almost did really.
"I'm not saying he would have won the league single-handedly for Liverpool but he was the best player in the Premier League by a mile, I think he scored the most goals in one Premier League season that anyone's ever done.
"That's what it needed and maybe a little bit more for Liverpool to win that league because the setup for them and individually defensively I don't think they were Premier League champions."