Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers predicts that the “best football” is yet to come this season from his side this season.
During the January transfer window Liverpool chose not to bring any players in with Rodgers having to rely on the squad he has as they hope to finish in the top four.
Some players are already in place for next summer with Belgium striker Divock Origi arriving from Lille after his loan spell with the Ligue 1 side, along with Burnley’s Danny Ings set to follow suit, but in the meantime the Reds will have to make do with what they have.
Tonight’s FA Cup match with Bolton will be Liverpool’s 37th match of the season which highlights the fact that the Reds only played a total of 43 matches last season with no European games to worry about.
Liverpool now faces a run of eight games in 28 days, but Rodgers is confident that his squad can handle it and that they will only get better as Liverpool remain the only Premier League team not to have lost a match in 2015.
“That was the idea – to top up our squad,” said Liverpool manager Rodgers. “We played 43 games last year and up to now we’ve played 37. The idea was to bring in a squad that could cope with that (increased demands).
“They have been brought in because we want to be in competitions until late on and challenging for leagues and for that you need to have a good squad.
“After the Chelsea game there was a question of ‘would it disrupt or provoke a negative reaction to our season?’ If anything it’s only promoted the development and momentum that we have.
“Of course we wanted to get to the final but the performance level from the two games and leading into those games has given us great encouragement.
“Our best football is yet to come. We had a real difficult start to the season when other teams had full squads and playing really well.
“For us, we needed to find a way to get back to our identity again and we have got that and our best football is ahead of us. We want to take that into the games and get to cup finals.”
Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw against Bolton ten days ago at Anfield, yet with both Manchester City and Chelsea out of the FA Cup Rodgers knows that his side has a real chance of getting to the final.
As captain Steven Gerrard prepares to make his 700th appearance for Liverpool, Rodgers is aware that there are still a few good clubs left in the competition saying: “There are still good teams in the FA Cup but that only counts if you get through yourself.
“For Bolton is a tough game. You get through each game and it optimizes your chance of getting to the final.
“We are in two cup competitions and we want to go as far as we possibly can in them. That will be reflected in our teams, our drive and our desire to get through in the competition.”
