How does a club become stronger after the midseason exit of a player worth £142 million? How does it improve after losing an explosive attacker to ligament damage for effectively the entire 2018-19 season? How does it kick on after ceding, on a free transfer, a 24-year-old who made 167 appearances?



Liverpool no longer have the spellbinding talents of Philippe Coutinho, now of Barcelona following a January switch, yet they have won their opening seven games of the season for the first time in history.



Jurgen Klopp cannot call on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is undergoing a long and taxing rehabilitation process following the knee injury he sustained in the Champions League semifinal victory over Roma at Anfield in April, yet his side have already scored 17 goals this term.



Liverpool are without the physicality and variety Emre Can offers in midfield—the German international joined Juventus in June—yet they have never looked steelier in the...