Jurgen Klopp’s final farewell from Liverpool is a week away but another milestone comes even sooner.
The German leads his side into an away game for the last time on Monday, with Liverpool travelling to Aston Villa — the scene of some of his most memorable moments in charge (good and bad).
To mark the occasion, we asked our experts to select their favourite Klopp away games from the past nine years in domestic and European competition. Let us know your picks in the comments section at the bottom of the article.
Bayern Munich 1 Liverpool 3
Champions League, March 13, 2019
Liverpool had been held to a dour 0-0 draw during the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Anfield to leave Bayern Munich in the driving seat.
Before the second leg in Bavaria, Klopp’s side had seen their Premier League title hopes dented by draws against rivals Manchester United and Everton.
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Doubts about Liverpool’s ability to make the leap from challengers to trophy winners had resurfaced. So much was on the line at the Allianz Arena, and what they delivered against the Bundesliga champions was the complete European away performance.
There was the lofted pass from Virgil van Dijk and the exquisite touch from Sadio Mane, who outfoxed Manuel Neuer as he turned and fired home the opener.
When Joel Matip diverted Serge Gnabry’s cross into his own net to restore parity before the break, nerves were jangling, but Liverpool regained control with a dominant second-half display.
Van Dijk’s header from James Milner’s corner was followed by Mane scoring his second of the night after fine work from Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool were rock-solid defensively, tireless in midfield and packing a punch going forward. “We’ve laid down a marker tonight that LFC is back on the top level of European football,” declared Klopp in the aftermath.
Bayern weren’t just beaten, they were humbled in their backyard. That prized scalp provided the perfect launchpad in the quest for silverware.
James Pearce
Manchester City 1-4 Liverpool
Premier League, November 21, 2015
Klopp’s Liverpool story was a slow-burner, a gradual improvement bringing a top-four finish in his second season, a Champions League final in his third, a Premier League title challenge and Champions League glory in his fourth and that elusive Premier League title in his fifth.
But even in his first few months on Merseyside, there were a few spectacular performances and results (as well as a few terrible ones). He was only five weeks into the job when they went to the Etihad Stadium and produced an astonishing performance, rushing into a 3-0 lead inside 32 minutes with an unexpected exhibition of front-foot, free-flowing football.
Roberto Firmino had been viewed with some suspicion, having not scored in his first 13 appearances since a summer move from Hoffenheim, but this was the game he came to life in a Liverpool shirt, setting up the first two goals (the first an own goal by Eliaquim Mangala, the second a tap-in for Philippe Coutinho) before scoring the third convert following a fine move involving Emre Can and Coutinho.
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Victory was secured in the closing stages by a thunderbolt from Martin Skrtel’s right foot. It was that sort of evening.
Oliver Kay
Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool
Premier League, November 2, 2019
Nearly everything that could have gone wrong for Liverpool did go wrong at Villa Park — and yet they still won, with two late goals.
The commentary that followed related to “lucky Liverpool” when they had actually been terribly unlucky before Andy Robertson’s equaliser and Sadio Mane’s winner, with a glancing header deep into stoppage time.
Goals were ruled out (presumably due to the length of Firmino’s armpit hair), penalties that should have been given were missed by the officials, and Villa probably should have been down to 10 men but were instead allowed to try and fight off fierce resistance from Liverpool with a full accompaniment of players.
Yet still, Liverpool came and delivered a win that provided compelling evidence that Liverpool would become champions for the first time in 30 years.
Without that victory, they might not have beaten Manchester City so resoundingly at home the following weekend. From there, a huge gap began to open up. In the away end at Villa Park, everyone seemed to appreciate the implications.
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Leicester City 0-4 Liverpool
Premier League, December 26, 2019
In their stroll to the 2019-20 Premier League title, Liverpool may have enjoyed more dramatic and memorable victories but rarely did they look more dominant than their 4-0 victory over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
They arrived on a cold Boxing Day evening with a swagger and ruthlessness that proved Leicester — champions three years previously — were mere pretenders and Liverpool were the top dogs.
This was Klopp’s side at their peak. The Salah-Firmino-Mane connection worked in complete harmony. The impenetrable back five of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Van Dijk and Robertson took no prisoners. It was all knitted together by the energy of Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita in the middle.
Firmino’s back post header from an Alexander-Arnold cross eventually got the ball rolling after Liverpool passed up early chances. There was no stopping them after that.
The lead wasn’t doubled until the 71st minute, but victory never felt in doubt. Klopp’s red machine were purring. James Milner converted from the penalty spot and then Alexander-Arnold and Firmino combined again.
Alexander-Arnold finished off the game — and the three-goals-in-seven-minutes flurry — with a pure strike that felt like a fitting way to cap the rout.
Andy Jones
Everton 0-1 Liverpool
Premier League, December 19, 2016
This visit to Goodison came at a strange time. Everton were still in their honeymoon period with Farhad Moshiri and appeared to be swimming in cash. The Klopp effect had not quite kicked in for Liverpool in the German’s first full season.
There was a great sense of optimism around the ground before the game. Evertonians were there to witness the changing of the guard. That mood evaporated during the match. As time ticked away, the home fans grew more and more twitchy and the away section became louder.
When the fourth official lifted his board, it indicated eight minutes of stoppage time. There was an audible gasp. Everyone knew what was coming.
Mane got the plaudits for his 94th-minute goal but the man of the match was Ragnar Klavan, who overpowered Romelu Lukaku.
There was no power shift on Merseyside. Instead, the embryonic ‘mentality monsters’ pointed to a glorious future for Liverpool.
Tony Evans
Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool
Premier League, October 24, 2021
Liverpool arrived at Old Trafford in good form at the start of the 2021-22 season.
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Eight games played and 18 points on the board, Klopp’s men were unbeaten by the end of October and sat second in the table before travelling to Manchester.
Riding high from a 5-0 victory away at Watford the week before, United needed a plan to stop Liverpool’s attacking potency. That plan lasted just five minutes as Liverpool carved through the opposition defence with a well-worked sequence finished by Keita.
Goals two, three and four all came within the first half as Liverpool showed little mercy to their fiercest rivals — with one from Diogo Jota and two from Salah putting the game to bed before half-time. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s face told its own picture. United fans leaving the stadium before the second half told another.
Salah bagged his third — and Liverpool’s fifth — before the hour mark, where Liverpool actually appeared to show mercy to United, allowing fans to count the scoreline with just one hand.
Five-nil victories are sweet, but five-nil victories at Old Trafford against your historically biggest rivals are surely the sweetest of all.
Mark Carey
Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool
Premier League, August 14, 2016
In the opening game of Klopp’s first full season in charge, Liverpool delivered a hint of what was to come by dismantling Arsenal in a 20-minute spell either side of half-time.
This rollercoaster win was a microcosm of their season; swashbuckling in attack yet porous in defence.
Alberto Moreno seemed hellbent on sabotaging any early season hopes by not only giving away a penalty, but also allowing Theo Walcott to escape his clutches and open the scoring. Milner duly came in at left-back for the remainder of the season and Moreno’s Liverpool career never recovered.
But the fun and games really began after Walcott’s opener.
Liverpool’s new-look front three of Firmino, Coutinho and Mane ran Arsenal ragged. Coutinho scored twice — including a stunning free kick — and Mane produced one of the finest debut goals the Premier League has ever seen; slaloming through three Arsenal defenders before smashing the ball into the top corner and celebrating by jumping on Klopp’s back. That made it 4-1 just after the hour mark.
Two typically sloppy late goals created some jeopardy but Liverpool hung on for a statement win over one of their traditional rivals. It felt like a watershed moment and more evidence that Klopp was turning doubters into believers.
Adam Jones
(Top photos: Getty Images)