Liverpool lost at all four of their closest challengers last season but that was before Robertson, Van Dijk and Keïta joined forces

The Premier League returns with a bang on Saturday, when Tottenham host top-of-the-table Liverpool at Wembley in the lunchtime kick-off. This fixture has always been important for Jürgen Klopp. His first game in English football, in October 2015, was a goalless draw at White Hart Lane. More than half of the players who represented Liverpool that day have since left the club – Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva, Emre Can, Joe Allen, Philippe Coutinho and Jordon Ibe – and Klopp has continued to use his visits to Spurs to refine his squad.

When the sides met at Wembley last October, Spurs ran out comfortable 4-1 winners, though that heavy defeat proved something of a catalyst for Liverpool’s season. It left them ninth in the table after as many games, with just three wins and a negative goal difference. The defeat was yet another reminder of Liverpool’s defensive inadequacies, with Simon Mignolet committing costly mistakes and Dejan Lovren being unceremoniously hauled off before half time.

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Fast forward to the present day and only one of the back five from that game has started all four matches so far this season, and he – Joe Gomez – is now playing at the heart of the defence rather than on the right. Liverpool turned things around emphatically after that defeat at Wembley, going 14 league games unbeaten, winning 10 of those and sealing a deal for Virgil van Dijk, a player they had been chasing for months.

Van Dijk’s arrival in January has been widely credited with turning the defence around. It’s ironic, then, that their undefeated run ended in his first league appearance for the club, at Swansea, just a week after they had become the first side to beat Manchester City all season.

It was “typical Liverpool”: a team capable of outplaying the best side in the league only to let all of their hard work unravel in a match that, on paper, they should have won comfortably. However, the “typical Liverpool” of today and last season is instead a team that struggles when playing away at the other big hitters in the league.

Liverpool lost five league games last season – all of them away – and only one of those defeats (that 1-0 loss at Swansea) came against a team outside the top six. The other four defeats were at Manchester City (5-0), Tottenham (4-1), Manchester United (2-1) and Chelsea (1-0). Klopp’s side did not pick up a single point in their away matches at their four closest rivals.

Their trip to Wembley on Saturday is a chance to make a statement. They no longer have the habit of unexpectedly losing to teams lower down the league; now they have to combine that progress with some strong results against their competitors for the title.

The omens look good. In the 33 rounds of fixtures since Liverpool’s humbling defeat at Tottenham last season, their defence has gone from being a laughing stock to the best in the league. It may seem a bold statement, but Liverpool have conceded just 23 league goals since their nightmare in London last October – at least three fewer than any other side. They have collected 17 clean sheets, which is more than half of their games and again the best record on the league.

It would be easy to assume Van Dijk has been the sole reason for this change, but that would overlook the aforementioned unbeaten run that preceded his debut. In that run, Liverpool conceded fewer shots on target per game (2.07) than they have in his 18 league appearances. That streak is also the reason why they picked up more points per game without Van Dijk than with him since the start of last season.

Van Dijk has been a superb addition to the squad – Liverpool have conceded just 11 goals in his 18 league appearances, which is an outstanding record – but there are other factors at play. Andrew Robertson has established himself in the side since that trip to Spurs a year ago and his impact at left-back cannot be overstated.

Since the start of last season, Robertson has missed 16 league matches and Liverpool have won just seven of them – 44% – while conceding 1.25 goals per game. They have won 18 of the 26 matches he has started (69%), while conceding just 0.73 goals per game. His introduction in place of Alberto Moreno has offered greater balance to the defence while in no way impinging on the team’s ability to attack down the flanks. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s influence on the other side of the back four is also worth mentioning, but Robertson has been such a substantial upgrade that his emergence should be considered as important as the signing of Van Dijk.

The departure of Philippe Coutinho has also helped the defence. Selling a star player never seems like a positive step, but it has enabled Klopp to strengthen a midfield that at times left the defence too exposed. The dilemma of how to fit Coutinho into a team also containing Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mo Salah was welcomed at the time, but the perceived necessity to field all four no longer exists and the side has benefited as a whole.

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The acquisition and eventual welcoming of Naby Keïta has give Liverpool dynamism in the middle of the pitch and fellow newcomer Fabinho hasn’t even made an appearance for the club yet. Once he acclimatises, the options and solidity of the midfield will be mightily impressive, and the front three doesn’t even need mentioning.

With the most potent attacking trio and now the best defence in the league, Liverpool are more than living up to their billing as the greatest threat to Manchester City’s dominance. Three points at Wembley would put any question of that assumption beyond doubt.

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