Undoubtedly starting with a stronger eleven than has been the norm in the Europa League this season with Allen, Ibe, Firmino and Lovren the changes from the team which defeated Chelsea over the weekend showed we met business.
The new found confidence under Klopp was apparent from the first minute with his team pressing all over the pitch leaving FC Ruben very little room to operate in.
Six minutes in Liverpool almost took the lead with Firmino cutting inside before feeding James Milner to shoot past the approaching keeper only to see the ball clip off the bar.
Liverpool flowed in the pass and move way of old, with options galore left, right and through the middle, slick passing from the back by Sakho and Jordon Ibe looking to cut inside supported by Clyne (on the overlap) or on the outside at every opportunity.
Clyne delivered a superb clipped ball on the run with Benteke lining up to score his fifth of the season only to see the defender pull off a miraculously hooked clearance.
Not for the first time this season Liverpool’s final ball lacked subtlety and precision providing Benteke very little quality, leaving the big striker frustrated and Liverpool left to shoot from long range without much success.
Liverpool almost took the lead in the final minute of the first-half with the impressive Ibe cutting through into the area with a one-two before his shot come cross deflecting off the defender only for the Rubin keeper Ryzhikov to pull of a fantastic instinctive save as the ball was almost past him before clawing the ball back as it landed behind him.
The second-half started as though first-half had never ended with Liverpool pouring forward and we finally got our just rewards.
Firmino collected Benteke’s flick just inside the Rubin half before pushing forward to find Jordon Ibe running into space. The young winger ran unchallenged to the edge of area before firing in a shot off Ryzhikov’s far post for Ibe’s first goal for Liverpool.
Liverpool could and should have wrapped up the match over the next ten minutes.
Moreno had his shot blocked and Milner following up saw his shot tipped over by Rhyhikov. Lovren, from Ibe’s corner had his header well saved low down and Can’s shot straight at the keeper whereas a shot either side would have seen us go two-up.
Apart from Ibe shooting straight at the keeper following a Liverpool break both teams barely threatened the goal in the last quarter and Liverpool coasted to third consecutive victory.
Granted Rubin sat back and deep and defended, but Liverpool as the away team took the initiative from the first whistle and deserve to win more handsomely. That being said, it may be a cause for some concern that once again we failed to provide quality service to Benteke who is living of scrap and the final ball in the last third was sub-standard to say the least.
The lack of a cutting edge again tonight showed just why Liverpool are so overly reliant on Coutinho’s creative skills and why we hark for a fit Daniel Sturridge.
It would be great if one of the midfielders and a defender develops a goal scoring habit as we are struggling to kill off teams, but we are a work in progress and the signs are encouraging especially with man of the match Jordon Ibe who had his best game since last season.
Teams:
FC Rubin: 1 Ryzhikov, 21 Cotugno (Ustinov – 81 mins), 5 Kverkvelia, 3, Nabiullin, 77 Georgiev, 15 Kislyak (Akhmetov – 70 mins), 99 Kanunnikov, 10 Marques (Ozdoev –45 mins), 61 Karadeniz, 11 Devic
Subs: 4 Lemos, 13, Haghighi, 14 Bilyaletdinov, 22 Dyadyun, 27 Ozdoev, 49 Ustinov, 85 Akhmetov
Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 6 Lovren, 17 Sakho, 18 Moreno, 23 Can (Skrtel – 93), 24 Allen, 33 Ibe, 11 Firmino (Lucas – 81 mins), 7 Milner (Lallana – 61 mins), 9 Benteke
Subs: 10 Coutinho, 20 Lallana, 21 Lucas, 27 Origi, 32 Brannagan, 34 Bogdan, 37 Skrtel
Referee: Kevin Blom
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