In front of their biggest crowd since the days of standing in the terraces, Liverpool marked their return to the expanded-capacity Anfield with an emphatic win over champions Leicester City. The attack looked deadly and, one freak moment aside, the defence looked very strong – there were certainly signs that the extra fans in the Main Stand could be enjoying many more convincing victories this season.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
The front three was altered from the trip to White Hart Lane; Coutinho missed out, having just returned from the Brazilian national team, and Sturridge came in to play in between Firmino and Mane. There were fears that the oft-influential playmaker would be missed, but these were allayed rapidly – roared on by the home crowd the hosts started quickly, and never really let up. Sturridge looked eager to make his case for regular inclusion in the first team, and had a big hand in the opening goal. His intelligent run drew two defenders wide, leaving Firmino free to drift through the middle and unerringly find the corner. This highlighted the fluid movement that has become ingrained in the Liverpool attack – the ‘centre-forward’ drifting wide left the centre-halves with a dilemma, and Firmino capitalised by coming central himself. Mane, too, had a good game: it was he who doubled the lead, finishing off a sumptuous move with a delightful chip over Kasper Schmeichel. Again, Sturridge played a significant role – after latching on to a nice pass he cleverly back-heeled the ball into the path of Mane. The Senegalese winger has enjoyed an electric start to his Liverpool career, delivering with consistency the quality that he could only show flashes of at Southampton. It is no coincidence that the one game where he was absent was Liverpool’s only defeat of the season so far: his direct, skilful runs would have asked questions of the Burnley defence.
At 2-0 up and approaching half-time, Liverpool looked in complete control. They were outplaying Leicester going forward, and Matip in particular was putting in an accomplished, assured performance at the back. Whilst his career at Anfield is still very much in its fledgling days, he looks as though he has the potential to be the commanding central defender that has been missing for so long. However, the solid defensive work was undone by a freakish incident involving make-shift defender Lucas. He received a pass from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, initially controlled it well, but then took a bizarre, ballooning second touch. With Okazaki (who had incidentally run into the penalty area prior to the goal kick, technically an infringement) oncoming, he then stabbed the ball desperately back in the general direction of Mignolet. Unfortunately it raced past him into the path of Vardy, who was gifted the simplest of finishes into an empty net. Liverpool thus went into the break with only a slender one goal lead.
This, however, apparently did not prey on the minds of the players heading into the second period. Far from it, they looked determined to put the game to bed – Lallana did just that ten minutes into the half, rifling home a ferocious strike from the edge of the box after a nice lay-off from Wijnaldum. Having also struck for England during the international break, he is certainly doing a good job of dispelling fears about his finishing abilities. The tempo subsequently dropped off a little, although Liverpool still looked by far the more threatening team: Sturridge will have been disappointed he didn’t manage to notch a goal or two, having got into a couple of excellent positions. At the other end the assured defensive display continued, although in truth Leicester put it under minimal strain. Just as it looked set to end 3-1, Firmino and Mane combined to cap an excellent performance from the hosts. Mane ran through on to a long ball, getting there ahead of Schmeichel – he then had the presence of mind to find the better-positioned Firmino, who coolly sold his marker a dummy before slotting home. They were probably the two best players on the pitch, and the goal was no more than they deserved.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
It was an excellent way to mark the opening of the expanded Main Stand – the bumper crowd had plenty to cheer as Liverpool extended an impressive home record against the previous year’s champions. The performance of the players on the pitch coupled with Klopp on the touchline and the new stand made it hard not to look optimistically on the future: there was an abstract sense of progress. Everything appears to be moving in the right direction – a return to former glories in the long term seems on the cards. That is not to say that in the short term Klopp and his men will settle for mediocrity: if Liverpool can keep on putting in excellent team performances such as the one witnessed against Leicester, there is no reason why we can’t be in the picture for the title race this season. At the very least Klopp will be hoping to challenge for a Champions League spot. Friday night sees Liverpool travel to Chelsea in what it sure to be a thorough test of the team’s credentials: based on the evidence of this game, there is no reason why they can’t come away with all three points.
James Martin
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