Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

So, here we go.

The last few days at Liverpool may have been dominated by talk of Xabi Alonso opting to stay at Bayer Leverkusen but the football returns in earnest tomorrow, with the game against Brighton marking the beginning of the end of Jurgen Klopp’s near-nine-year reign as Liverpool manager.

Klopp has 10 Premier League games remaining — five at Anfield, five on the road — and up to five Europa League ties as he tries to end his time in charge with a unique treble of trophies, having already lifted the Carabao Cup last month.

The coming weeks promise drama, emotion and, potentially, a fairytale finish for the most transformative manager of Liverpool’s modern era.

This is the business end of the season and there’s so much to play for as they look to add Premier League and Europa League glory to their Carabao Cup final triumph.

Dreams of a quadruple may have been dashed by that FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, but players and staff are adamant the impact of that match hasn’t lingered.

Ibrahima Konate, who had missed Liverpool’s two most recent matches with an apparent hamstring injury, got 90 minutes in for France on Tuesday; Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, who picked up knocks against Manchester United, were able to play twice for the Netherlands and Colombia respectively.

Konate in action for France against Chile (Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)

Of the other missing players, Ryan Gravenberch had already resumed first-team training before the international break.

All three title contenders play six of the current top 10; while City and Arsenal host fourth-placed Villa, they both have to go to fifth-placed Tottenham, who Liverpool get to play at Anfield.

The Opta Power Rankings, which assess the difficulty of each remaining fixture, have Liverpool and City with three hard, four medium and three easy games (though one of Liverpool’s three is an away Merseyside derby), and Arsenal on four hard, also four medium and only two easy.

The respective European fixtures have to be considered too.

Liverpool got a favourable Europa League quarter-final draw against Atalanta, sixth in Italy’s Serie A, which City (Real Madrid) and Arsenal (Bayern Munich) did not in the Champions League — and they may yet have to play each other twice more in a week in that competition’s semi-finals starting at the end of next month.

What’s the biggest challenge facing Liverpool in these final two months?

Jones: Liverpool’s FA Cup exit means the upcoming schedule has eased slightly, with one fewer midweek game as the trip to Fulham on semi-finals weekend can stay where it is.

The prospect of Klopp’s farewell taking place in Dublin on May 22 against Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen is enticing.

Winning the Premier League title will be harder given it’s a tight three-way battle with Arsenal and Manchester City.

The Europa League draw feels very kind and sets up the perfect send-off for Klopp — marking his final game as manager (the final in the Irish city of Dublin on May 22) with one last trophy.

GO DEEPER

The passes that define how Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City are playing

(Top photos: Getty Images)


For more news relating to Manchester City, visit our sister site City Latest Live.