Liverpool: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly – EPL Gameweek #14
After driving the fans to despair, the points are won with flair. Just when the boys turn up the dial, injury puts them out for a while. The Reds will go into the draw, after hitting a comfy four. A bad choice in FPL, and I keeper I already want to sell. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly at Liverpool FC for EPL Gameweek 14.
The Good
The (eventual) 4-3 win over a spirited Fulham team. In an afternoon that those with a weak heart would do well to avoid, Liverpool finished this topsy-turvy end-to-end battle triumphant.
Liverpool were twice pegged back by their visitors, and ended up going a goal behind with 10 minutes to go, due to a mixture of poor goalkeeping from stand in stopper Caoimhin Kelleher. Two superb goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alexis Mac Allister in a pulsating first half.
Jürgen Klopp’s disjointed men struggled to cope with the tenacity of their west London based visitors and calamitous goal keeping gave them the lead and sight of an historic victory at Anfield.
With less than three minutes of ordinary time to play, up stepped substitute Wataro Endo to open his Liverpool account with a rasper from the edge of the box. Cometh the hour and cometh the man. Local lad and vice captain Trent fired in Mo Salah’s lay off as the clock ticked away on Fulham’s joy.
Anfield in raptors, Fulham’s dream in tatters. Liverpool’s title hopes survive to see another day. An incredible afternoon at Anfield. As much as it was thrilling, the team can’t count on these kind of fight backs if they want to win anything this season.
Next up, Sheffield United away.
The (Not) Bad
The 4-0 won over LASK Linz on Thursday night in the Europa League group E game. It’s an old cliche but the score really could have been five or six!
A brace from Cody Gakpo in addition to one from Lula Diaz and the 199th goal in a Liverpool shirt from Mo Salah overwhelmed their guests. The stats of 24 shots with nine on target tell their own story, in a game that the Reds dominated almost entirely.
“Almost” because LASK had chances to score with Moses Usor particularly lively. Equally so were their travelling support who sang continuously to create a special atmosphere in the famous old stadium.
Many stand out performers. Caoimhin Kelleher pulled off a couple of fine saves to keep the Austrian visitors out. Jarral Quansah and Ibrahim Kanoté were steady at the back.
Kostas Tsimikas and Joe Gomez were also pretty solid throughout. Salah, Gakpo the best Wataro Endo. A robust team performance to deliver qualification from the group with a game to spare.
“We worked for the clean sheet, which is what we wanted, so a top result and really good performance.” enthused Jürgen Klopp after the game.
The Ugly
Diogo Jota and Alisson will both have a spell on the sidelines after sustaining injuries in the Manchester City game.
It appears Jota will be out for a while and Alisson is “not as bad as we first thought…” reported Jürgen Klopp ahead of the LASK game.
Alisson will be out for a couple of weeks where Jota will take a while longer. The news will come as a blow to the Portugal international who has enjoyed a rich vein of form lately, having found the net eight times in 17 appearances this season.
After yesterday’s game Klopp confirmed that Joel Matip’s absence after pulling up in the Fulham game “won’t be a short one…”. Another injury blow to the team following the above two heavy casualties.
That leaves only Joe Gomez and Jarrell Quansah as back ups for central defence. Not ideal give the amount of games potentially to be played this season.
