This season England has seven representatives in the group stages of European competitions, marking the first time in recent history that the Premier League is sending such a huge number of participants. Based on this, some pundits are heavily favoring these squads. Out of the seven English representatives, five are taking part in UEFA Champions League, while the remaining two are involved in the UEFA Europa League.
With two group matches are already played, English teams are having an excellent run even when they play away from home except for the two teams from Merseyside who find the going tough.
The two clubs are Liverpool and their city rivals, Everton who both haven’t recorded any win after two matches.
Most Premier League clubs are doing well in Europe
English champions, Chelsea returned to Champions League assignment with impressive results after a season-long absence. The Londoners did not take part in the elite competition last as they had finished a disappointing tenth position in the league season 2015/16 thus failing to qualify for the prestigious league. The Blues have come back strong and shown the rest of the continent that they’re ready to back to England the trophy they last won in 2012. Antonio Conte’s side was rampant as they managed to rout Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan 6-0.
However, the real display of character came when Chelsea came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 away from home.
Manchester United who qualified for Champions League despite finishing sixth in their domestic league is already dominant in their Champions’ League group. The Red Devils who qualified for the elite competition after winning Europa League last season have now won their first two games.
Manchester City who were unsurprisingly knocked out of Champions League by Monaco of France in the last 16 stage, have started their campaign on the right footing this season. Two seasons ago, the Citizens reached Champions League semi-final under former manager, Manuel Pellegrini- in what remains the best finish Manchester City has ever had in history.
Pep Guardiola side has won two continental games without conceding any goal this season. The Citizens launched their campaign by first beating Feyenoord Rotterdam of Holland 4-0 before defeating Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspurs had a disappointing European experience after exiting both the Champions League and Europa League in less than a month. The Spurs are on course this season after beating the tricky Borrusia Dortmund 3-1 and then the comprehensive 4-0 victory over APOEL Nicosia of Cypress.
Another North London team that are finding themselves in the wrong competition after over a decade absence is Arsenal. The gunners who were until this season the perennial participant of Champions League but found themselves in the Europa League after finishing fifth in their domestic league last season.
In fact, Arsene Wenger’s side had a double qualification to the inferior continental competition after winning the FA Cup and also finishing at position five in the Premier League last season. The Londoners took their challenge positively when they won their first two fixtures. The Gunners found beat Cologne of Germany 3-I before defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus to remain at the summit of their group.
What could be wrong with the Merseyside teams?
It worries many football fans how Liverpool finds it hard to win games despite having one of the most decorated managers in the European competition. The Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp had an exceptional period with Borrusia Dortmund and was on the brink of winning the game with the German side on two occasions.
Until now, The Reds remain the English side with the highest title after winning five- the last one being the memorable 2005 glory in Istanbul against AC Milan in a dramatic comeback. Liverpool has played two games in Champions League group matches drawing in both. The five times European champions drew with Sevilla at Anfield with a score line of 2-2 before drawing 1-1 at Spartak Moscow of Russia in their second match.
Everton who is Liverpool’s local rival finds itself in a strange position after failing to win its first two group games. The Toffees were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at Atlanta of Italy with all the three goals coming in the first half. In the second game, Everton shared the spoil at home against Apollon Limassol with the game ended 1-1.
It’s worrying that despite Everton having some outstanding players like Wayne Rooney, Phil Jagielka, and Ross Barkley, they still find it difficult to win in Europe.
There are three common things with these two strugglers; one of them is that the two teams come from the same location. The Merseyside clubs didn’t qualify for their European participation in an automatic way, but they did so through play-offs- something that seemingly contributes to their continental woes. The third common reason for the failure of the two clubs is because they haven’t been consistent in European competitions in the recent past thus getting it difficult to cope with the games.
