Liverpool is not performing to the level that it is capable of. But there is something for Jürgen Klopp to cling to during a massive week in the top-four race.
Given the testing nature of Liverpool’s season, it is tempting to suggest that there are no redeeming features of this team or its form.
But even among the wreckage, there are positives worth highlighting, not least because they offer the promise of short-term improvement as well as in the long-term. One of those is the fact that, even if it seems odd to say just days after a 5-2 thrashing there, Anfield remains a fortress.
While that Champions League humbling at the hands of Real Madrid remains fresh in the memory, it is worth pointing out that, of the 42 Premier League points the Reds have collected in the Premier League thus far, 24 have come on home soil.
In fact, their form on familiar ground across all competitions makes for surprisingly decent reading, with 10 wins, five draws and just two defeats having been posted.
This contrasts sharply with their return on the road, where some of this season’s most horrendous moments have been endured: think hammerings at the hands of Brentford, Brighton or Wolves, or equally disappointing defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal.
And yet, at home, even Manchester City and Europe’s in-form team, Napoli, were beaten by a struggling Liverpool. No wonder, then, the Reds sit fifth in the Premier League home table but 11th in its away-game equivalent.
It is those positive results gained on Merseyside that offer hope for the future, particularly when it comes to an ongoing battle to finish in the Premier League’s top four.
That is because Liverpool’s next two league fixtures — against Wolves (again) and then rivals Manchester United — will be played at Anfield.
Victory in both would not only make a good result out of a drab draw with Crystal Palace, but it would also put the pressure right back on fourth-placed Tottenham.
What’s more, success in the latter fixture would also doubtless provide the added boost of a timely confidence boost that could be huge during the run-in.
Of course, for now, these remain hypotheticals, and it is perhaps dangerous to dream that a team as inconsistent as this can lay down back-to-back wins as easily as that.
But their Anfield record is reason to believe it is possible and, with their trophy aims already dashed this season, clinging to the hope of having something to show for these travails is surely better than giving up entirely.
