Liverpool have cracked the top 10 of Europe’s best teams on current form, with a bitter European rival and two Premier League sides ahead of them.
Only teams in Europe’s top ten leagues are included, with games in all competitions taken into account.
10) Liverpool (W7 D2 L1 F27 A10)
The Quadruple is very much quietly on with wins in all four competitions within their last 10 games as Liverpool top both the Premier and Champions League tables – although that solitary defeat came against Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
9) Napoli (W8 D0 L2 F17 A8)
Seeking a second Scudetto in three years, Napoli have swept basically everyone aside recently bar Lazio, who beat them in successive games to knock Antonio Conte’s side out of the Coppa Italia and test their title resolve.
8) Nottingham Forest (W8 D1 L1 F19 A9)
The one blot on that recent copybook was the loss to Manchester City 10 games ago, which accounts for one third of all the goals Nottingham Forest have conceded since December began. This really is something special.
7) Stuttgart (W8 D1 L1 F26 A9)
Sebastian Hoeness rejected Manchester United in the summer and won’t be regretting that call after guiding Stuttgart to fourth in the Bundesliga, a DFB-Pokal quarter-final and a possible Champions League knockout phase play-off.
6) Real Madrid (W8 D1 L1 F34 A16)
This is Real Madrid so two of those games were finals, one a humbling defeat to Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana and the other an Intercontinental Cup stroll against Pachuca. They are also top of La Liga but clinging on in Europe.
5) Paris Saint-Germain (W8 D2 L0 F25 A12)
After racking up an 11th Trophee des Champions in 12 seasons, PSG are desperately hanging on to a nine-point lead in Ligue Un while genuinely actually struggling in the Champions League.
4) Club Brugge (W8 D2 L0 F24 A10)
An impressive victory over Sporting was followed by a spirited draw with Juventus in the Champions League, with Brugge ahead in a two-legged Belgian Cup semi-final while gamely chasing Genk in the league.
3) Bayer Leverkusen (W9 D0 L1 F21 A8)
Xabi Alonso had engineered a 12-game winning run to drag Leverkusen back into Bundesliga title contention, a strong position in the Champions League and a DFB-Pokal quarter-final. But then they came up against the juggernaut of Diego Simeone’s Atletico reduced to 10 men early at the Metropolitano.
2) Atletico Madrid (W9 D0 L1 F21 A8)
A 15-game winning run was halted by relegation-threatened Leganes when they had 68% possession away and missed a last-minute penalty; in their very next game they vanquished Leverkusen at home with 30% of the ball, a man sent off and a last-minute winner. Never change, Diego.
1) Newcastle (W9 D0 L1 F27 A7)
It does not feel like they are Europe’s form team in the aftermath of a crushing home loss to Bournemouth but results elsewhere have conspired to hand Newcastle top spot. A record-equalling nine wins brought them to the brink of a Carabao Cup final and Champions League qualification place so the pressure is on to immediately get back on track.
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