Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Post-Match Analysis

Liverpool put in a much-improved performance against league leaders Chelsea, but were unable to get the victory. The hosts were the more positive of the teams and created the most chances, but in the end it was Chelsea who came closest to snatching the win, denied only by a penalty save from Simon Mignolet. On balance a draw was probably the fairest reflection of the game – failure to win is undoubtedly a further dent in Liverpool’s rapidly fading aspirations of a title challenge, but the strong showing against the title favourites has at least given fans reason to hope that the recent awful run is coming to an end.

The quick start was reminiscent of the Liverpool side we saw in the first half of the season. Chelsea barely had the ball in the first ten minutes, and when they were in possession they looked rattled by the high press. Clear-cut chances proved elusive, however: the organised back three repeatedly forced Klopp’s men wide, and as usual the crosses didn’t carry all that much threat. Nonetheless, it was a start that gave reason to be hopeful for a breakthrough; this made David Luiz’s opener on 24 minutes all the more frustrating. It was the visitors’ first shot of the game, and it came from a highly dubious free kick – Hazard and Lallana clashed legs and the Belgian threw himself down. To be fair to Luiz it was a wonderful free kick, flying over the wall and in off the post from a fair distance out. The circumstances, though, were almost comical – Mignolet was still trying to organise his defence when the ball was struck, and had barely had time to look at the ball before it was in the back of the net. This was undoubtedly an error on his part, but it is hard to see why the referee blew the whistle while the keeper was so patently not ready; it was also Mignolet’s first significant error of the entire season, and he certainly atoned for it later on.

This left Liverpool with a big task. The team has been struggling for goals all month, and now faced the challenge of finding a way through one of the most organised defensive units in the league. They continued to push after going behind, but for the rest of the first half were unable to create anything of any real quality. After the break, however, they came out with almost tangible determination. The game slowly but surely started to open up, with some quick passes creating space that hadn’t been available in the first period. One such pass found Firmino in vast space in the box, but the Brazilian panicked, took it first time and blazed it well wide. Not too long afterwards Liverpool were in again, and this time they took the chance. Jordan Henderson played a lovely first time ball to James Milner, whose header across the box was met emphatically by Gini Wijnaldum. At this point the momentum was firmly with Liverpool, who continued to push – it would have been nice to get Mane on at this point, but having played 120 minutes so recently it isn’t hard to understand why he was only given fifteen minutes.

Although Liverpool were firmly in the ascendency, Chelsea had begun to look dangerous on the counter. Hazard was replaced by the rapid Pedro, and at times the hosts’ back line looked stretched. Were it not for Jordan Henderson, Conte’s men would surely have retaken the lead – substitute Fabregas looked to be clean through, but a last gasp sliding challenge from the captain dispossessed him. Matip had less luck with his tackle – faced with an onrushing Diego Costa, the Cameroonian centre-back stuck out a leg and brought him down. It was probably the right call to give a penalty, but it was undoubtedly soft – it would have been a kick in the teeth to lose to goals from a dubious free kick and penalty. Step forward Simon Mignolet. The keeper has a marvellous penalty-saving record at Liverpool, dating back to his dramatic 90th minute stop against Stoke on his debut, and he pulled out another one at this crucial moment. Usual taker Hazard had been substituted off, and Costa’s effort wasn’t good enough to get past the Liverpool stopper.

So, a point gained or two lost? There was certainly a feeling of frustration after the game, but it was coupled with a begrudging recognition that a draw against Chelsea represented a decent point. It is agonising to see yet another title challenge seemingly fade away, but the realistic aim for Klopp in his first full season was always going to be to get us back into the Champions League. In any case, with fifteen games to go, anything could still happen – after the game the manager urged fans and players alike to keep believing and keep pushing, and this is definitely the right attitude.

The performance certainly gave reason for renewed belief: the three central midfielders in particular put in much-improved performances. Mane’s return is also bound to be a big boost, and Coutinho is slowly getting back up to pace following his long lay-off. January is over now, and there is a feeling that Liverpool can now leave their horrible form behind them. Nobody wanted to crash out of both cups, but what the team is left with now is a clear run. Fifteen games to make the fans proud – let’s keep believing.

Cardiff 3-6 Liverpool: Post-match Analysis

Yesterday, Liverpool extended their hugely impressive win streak to six games, further aiding their push for the Premier League title. They had to come from behind twice against a plucky Cardiff side, but after an excellent second half performance Liverpool came out comfortable 6-3 victors.

It says something about the side that Brendan Rodgers has created that the score-line of 6-3 doesn't come as much of a shock to us anymore. Our defensive shortcomings have been well documented over the course of the season, but they have been largely compensated for by our phenomenally high goal output. The fact that we let in 3 against 19^th place Cardiff is, of course, an indicator that we will have to strengthen defensively come the summer, but in the short-term push for 1^st place it’s actually essentially inconsequential. Why bother worrying about letting in three when we can guarantee the win by scoring double that?

That said, some of the defending we exhibited was truly woeful. Cardiff’s second goal in particular was painfully easy for them. Agger kept backing off Fraizer Campbell, who then simply stepped inside him and, unchallenged, fired the ball past Mignolet, who could only stand and watch. This theme was one that ran throughout the first half; in truth, Cardiff were the better side. It was Liverpool at close to their worst, and Cardiff punching above their weight. All in all, Liverpool were quite lucky to go into the half time break at 2-2. In fairness the lead-up to our first goal was vintage Liverpool, but other than that we were, at best, uninspiring.

We came out rejuvenated in the second half. Our new-found ability to do this is very valuable- in the first half of the season, where we continually failed to perform to our best in the second half of games, this is a match where we might have failed to take all three points. The contrast between our first and second half performances was amazing- we went from playing at close to our worst to close to our best. Admittedly the goal that put us in front for the first time was scored in slightly lucky circumstances, as Cardiff had only 9 men on the pitch to defend the corner that Skrtel scored his second goal from, but after this we never looked back. Sturridge finally seemed to click into gear, and consequently the SAS partnership returned to its usual, lethal self. As such, the fourth goal was hardly surprising- Sturridge produced a great piece of improvisation with a sumptuous back-heel across the box, which Suarez then latched on to and hit home.

At this point we were pretty much home and dry, but the Liverpool which Rodgers has put together never just sit back. They just love scoring goals, and that’s exactly what they continued to do. Our fifth came on 75 minutes, Suarez turning provider for Sturridge who was left with the simplest of finishes. In the 88^th minute however, Cardiff, rather against the run of play, pulled one back. That looked to be it, but something didn’t seem right. Surely Liverpool couldn’t fail to win by a margin of three or more goals? That just wouldn’t be right! Suarez didn’t fail us- he got clean through on goal after a long ball up the pitch from Skrtel, and, much to the consternation of Raheem Sterling, fired it home himself after a series of fake shots rather than squaring it to Sterling for an easy goal.

This passion and determination of Suarez, and the temporary annoyance of Sterling at not being able to score himself, characterises the attitude of the entire Liverpool team. They are just extremely driven and yearning to succeed, and it is this quality that means that, despite the odds being seemingly stacked against us in the not-so-distant past, we now surely have to be classed as one of the front runners in this thrilling race for the top spot.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Southampton 0-3 Liverpool: Persecution of the Saints

Yesterday (Saturday 1^st March), Liverpool travelled to St Mary’s to face Southampton, a team who they have had huge trouble beating in recent times. Fortunately, despite playing nowhere near their best, they were able to overcome their problems, eventually emerging 3-0 victors.

This game saw one notable change to the starting 11- Rodgers opted to play Joe Allen in place of Raheem Sterling. On the one hand this was harsh on the 19-year-old, who has been in excellent form. However, Liverpool have lacked control of the game away from home this season, so an extra man central was a good idea. It proved effective- Liverpool dominated the early exchanges, creating a couple of pretty good chances. Nothing came of this pressure until the 16^th minute, when Luis Suarez got back in amongst the goals after capitalising on a defensive error from the usually solid Southampton back line.

The Saints responded well, with Adam Lallana proving instrumental in their attacks. Sometimes he plays wide, but yesterday he operated in the number 10 role and was extremely effective. He combined exceptionally well with Jay Rodriguez and Ricky Lambert on multiple occasions, and nearly equalised for Southampton after a lovely little move- his effort struck the post. They kept up a relatively strong amount of pressure on the Liverpool goal all the way through to half time, but couldn’t get anything to show for it.

The second half showed signs of continuing where the first left off- Liverpool had to absorb a fair bit of pressure from the home side. However, 57 minutes in, Rodgers made a substitution that culminated in the killing off of the match. He brought on Raheem Sterling for the uncharacteristically ineffectual Philippe Coutinho; a change many fans had been clamouring for at half time. Just over a minute after coming on, and with his very first touch of the ball, he put Liverpool two up, firing home from a nice pass from Suarez. From here on in Liverpool cruised. Southampton looked demoralised, and Liverpool could have scored three or four in the second half. In the dying moments they did manage to add a third- Suarez embarrassed Jose Fonte with a series of silky skills, and was eventually clattered by him, resulting in a stonewall penalty. Gerrard stepped up to take it, and, as per usual, finished it emphatically. This was arguably his best penalty of the season- it flew right into the top corner, leaving Boruc (who had dived the right way) completely helpless.

After the game, Rodgers said that this game was, in its own way, just as impressive as the 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal. I am inclined to agree with him. It’s an age-old saying that to win when not at your best is the mark of champions. Liverpool didn’t just win; they produced a score-line of 3-0! With only 10 games remaining and Liverpool sitting in 2^nd, just 4 points off the top, people are finally being forced to take our title challenge seriously. We are the form side- since the halfway point in the season, no team has a better record than ours. Our main title contenders, Man City and Chelsea, are still to come to Anfield: this is the best shot we’ve had at the title in years. If Suarez and Sturridge can keep up their scintillating form (if they were a team in their own right, they would be 6^th top scorers in the Premier League), there is no way you could justify counting us out of the race.

To conclude, these are exciting times for Liverpool, both fans and club alike. At the start of the season it is almost inconceivable that, with so few games to play in the season, there would be talk of winning the division championship. Even if we don’t manage to secure the title this year, we can be thrilled with the huge progress we’ve made and content ourselves with the all-but-confirmed consolation of a Champions League spot. That is not to say that we shouldn’t dare to believe- we have a great team with a great manager, and with a bit of luck we could yet go all the way. Do it for Stevie!

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013