The staggering 66 game run that shows what Andoni Iraola must recreate against Man City

When you pause to digest the sheer numbers behind modern football’s greatest rivalries, there are statistical eye-openers and then there is a stat so completely absurd it almost defies belief.

Between May 13, 2018, and February 28, 2020, across a staggering 66 Premier League fixtures, Liverpool lost just ONE single match.

Over that ridiculous stretch, former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp’s red machine accumulated 179 points from a possible 198. To put that into proper context, it remains the most relentless, terrifyingly consistent period of domestic dominance ever produced by an English side.

Week after week, whether standard mid-table opposition at Anfield or hostile atmospheres on the road, the Reds simply refused to drop points.

And who was the only team on the planet capable of inflicting a defeat on Liverpool during that 66-game run? Manchester City.

The match-by-match breakdown: 66 games, 1 loss, 179 points

To grasp just how unstoppable Klopp's squad was, you have to look at the raw sequence of results across those two iconic seasons:

1. The 2017/18 season finale

• May 13, 2018: Liverpool 4–0 Brighton

2. The unbeaten 20-game start to 2018/19

• Aug 12, 2018: Liverpool 4–0 West Ham
• Aug 20, 2018: Crystal Palace 0–2 Liverpool
• Aug 25, 2018: Liverpool 1–0 Brighton
• Sep 1, 2018: Leicester City 1–2 Liverpool
• Sep 15, 2018: Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 Liverpool
• Sep 22, 2018: Liverpool 3–0 Southampton
• Sep 29, 2018: Chelsea 1–1 Liverpool (Draw)
• Oct 7, 2018: Liverpool 0–0 Manchester City (Draw)
• Oct 20, 2018: Huddersfield Town 0–1 Liverpool
• Oct 27, 2018: Liverpool 4–1 Cardiff City
• Nov 3, 2018: Arsenal 1–1 Liverpool (Draw)
• Nov 11, 2018: Liverpool 2–0 Fulham
• Nov 24, 2018: Watford 0–3 Liverpool
• Dec 2, 2018: Liverpool 1–0 Everton
• Dec 5, 2018: Burnley 1–3 Liverpool
• Dec 8, 2018: Bournemouth 0–4 Liverpool
• Dec 16, 2018: Liverpool 3–1 Manchester United
• Dec 21, 2018: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0–2 Liverpool
• Dec 26, 2018: Liverpool 4–0 Newcastle United
• Dec 29, 2018: Liverpool 5–1 Arsenal

3. The only defeat in 66 games

Jan 3, 2019: Manchester City 2–1 Liverpool (The 11.2 millimeter goal-line clearance from John Stones was the match that decided the title)

4. The 17-game unbeaten title pursuit (2018/19 Run-In)

• Jan 12, 2019: Brighton 0–1 Liverpool
• Jan 19, 2019: Liverpool 4–3 Crystal Palace
• Jan 30, 2019: Liverpool 1–1 Leicester City (Draw)
• Feb 4, 2019: West Ham 1–1 Liverpool (Draw)
• Feb 9, 2019: Liverpool 3–0 Bournemouth
• Feb 24, 2019: Manchester United 0–0 Liverpool (Draw)
• Feb 27, 2019: Liverpool 5–0 Watford
• Mar 3, 2019: Everton 0–0 Liverpool (Draw)
• Mar 10, 2019: Liverpool 4–2 Burnley
• Mar 17, 2019: Fulham 1–2 Liverpool
• Mar 31, 2019: Liverpool 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur
• Apr 5, 2019: Southampton 1–3 Liverpool
• Apr 14, 2019: Liverpool 2–0 Chelsea
• Apr 21, 2019: Cardiff City 0–2 Liverpool
• Apr 26, 2019: Liverpool 5–0 Huddersfield Town
• May 4, 2019: Newcastle United 2–3 Liverpool
• May 12, 2019: Liverpool 2–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Liverpool ended 2018/19 with 97 points losing the league title by a single point despite losing just once all season.)

5. The relentless 27-game start to 2019/20 (26 wins, 1 draw)

• Aug 9, 2019: Liverpool 4–1 Norwich City
• Aug 17, 2019: Southampton 1–2 Liverpool
• Aug 24, 2019: Liverpool 3–1 Arsenal
• Aug 31, 2019: Burnley 0–3 Liverpool
• Sep 14, 2019: Liverpool 3–1 Newcastle United
• Sep 22, 2019: Chelsea 1–2 Liverpool
• Sep 28, 2019: Sheffield United 0–1 Liverpool
• Oct 5, 2019: Liverpool 2–1 Leicester City
• Oct 20, 2019: Manchester United 1–1 Liverpool (Draw)
• Oct 27, 2019: Liverpool 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur
• Nov 2, 2019: Aston Villa 1–2 Liverpool
• Nov 10, 2019: Liverpool 3–1 Manchester City
• Nov 23, 2019: Crystal Palace 1–2 Liverpool
• Nov 30, 2019: Liverpool 2–1 Brighton
• Dec 4, 2019: Liverpool 5–2 Everton
• Dec 7, 2019: Bournemouth 0–3 Liverpool
• Dec 14, 2019: Liverpool 2–0 Watford
• Dec 26, 2019: Leicester City 0–4 Liverpool
• Dec 29, 2019: Liverpool 1–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Jan 2, 2020: Liverpool 2–0 Sheffield United
• Jan 11, 2020: Tottenham Hotspur 0–1 Liverpool
• Jan 19, 2020: Liverpool 2–0 Manchester United
• Jan 23, 2020: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–2 Liverpool
• Jan 29, 2020: West Ham 0–2 Liverpool
• Feb 1, 2020: Liverpool 4–0 Southampton
• Feb 15, 2020: Norwich City 0–1 Liverpool
• Feb 24, 2020: Liverpool 3–2 West Ham

(The run finally ended on February 29, 2020, with a 3-0 defeat at Watford, but by then the 30-year wait for the league title was as good as over.)

The shadow of City's financial guilty verdict

That single 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium in January 2019 defined by John Stones clearing the ball just 11.2 millimeters off the goal line was ultimately the razor-thin margin that decided the title race. It served as a stark reminder of the standards required when these two sides collide: absolute perfection isn't just aimed for, it is mandated.

However, those numbers take on a far darker, more infuriating context following the recent full revelation of Manchester City’s guilt regarding Premier League financial breaches.

For everyone across the red side of Merseyside, that jaw-dropping 66-game stat carries immense emotional weight. It underlines the staggering, unprecedented perfection Klopp had to demand from his players just to stay in the fight.

To amass 97 points in 2018/19 and 92 points in 2021/22 totals that would have easily won the Premier League in almost any other decade only to lose out by a single point on both occasions to a club operating under a cloud of illegal financial engineering cuts to the absolute core.

Sunday isn't just another fixture it is the first meeting between the two clubs since the guilty verdict was handed down. The sense of collective injustice that has lingered in the Kop for years now has official backing, making the atmosphere at Anfield ferocious.

City are walking straight into an Anfield cauldron, with a Kop ready to let Maresca and his players know exactly how English football feels.

When the whistle blows on Sunday, Iraola’s Reds won't just be playing a football match. They will be fighting for pride, history, and a decade's worth of score-settling on Merseyside.

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