Tottenham Hotspurs 1 Liverpool 1: Liverpool spurn winning opportunity

Make no mistake for 70 minutes there was only one team going win this game and we could and should have had it wrapped up by half-time.  With Harry Kane well marshalled by Joel Matip on his Premier League debut and Lovren, barely having a kick in anger Liverpool proceeded to dominate the first-half pressing Spurs into continual mistakes.

Sadio Mane was seriously brilliant from one end of the pitch to the other. Potent and sharp at the business end, patrolling and studious at the other.  Liverpool were focussed and should have been ahead within 6 minutes.  Leader of the press gang Lallana dispossessed Eriksen, before sliding the ball onto Mane who in turn sent Firmino in the box.  The Brazilian sensibly found his countryman Coutinho on the left-hand side of the box and the Brazilian saw he shot saved after shooting slightly to the keepers right with both sides of the goal invitingly waiting.

Liverpool were playing well in all parts.  Matip as befits a central defender with experience as a holding midfielder, exudes calmness on the ball and if Alberto Moreno was paying attention he will have been given a schooling on how to play left-back.  That’s not to say that long-term James Milner should be in the role, but it was educational, both defensively and when to provide support in attack.

Mane scuttling through almost got to the ball before Spurs keeper Vorm acting as a de facto sweeper got their just before him, something not in the Joe Hart book of keeping.  He did so not once but twice in the opening half hour.

Unbelievably, referee Booby Madley after seeing Matip manhandled in the box trying to get to Henderson corner preferred to deliver a sermon rather than award a penalty as referees have been commanded to do this season.

Vorm was soon to be in action again as Spurs, defensively negligent allowed Coutinho to chest down a cross before seeing his shot saved by the keeper at the near post.

To be fair Sours should have a penalty as Matip blocked off and then grappled Janssen as he charged through just inside the area.

Just as it seemed Liverpool’s good work would not be rewarded, Firmino bustled past Lamela down the left before being brought down, possibly inadvertently, but his fall took him inside gaining his team a penalty.

Milner strode up and dispatched the penalty inside the post.  It was nothing more than Liverpool deserved to go into half-time ahead even it should have been more decisive.

Three minutes into the second-half and Georginio Wijnaldum playing in a more conservative holding role, found himself on the end of short pass from Firmino before whipping a curled shot fractionally over the top corner of the net.

Liverpool started the second-half as they ended first, on top and Matip fastening on to a Milner corner, got in front of Vertonghen before seeing his back header marginally slide over the bar.

Liverpool were playing with joie de vivre in attack.  Going forward with speed and sharpness, we should’ve ended the Spurs challenge 12 minutes into the second half.

Wijnaldum galloping forward released Lallana who appeared to be level with last defender before squaring for Mane to smash home the coup des grace.  Apparently, the referee’s assistant saw differently flagging offside.  Later the reverse camera angle suggested they were inline.

As is always the way, the let off acting as a stimulus for Spurs who were now beginning to get a firm footing back in the game and Eriksen with a golden chance from Dier’s whipped cross on the ground blazed over from inside the box unchallenged.  Minutes later Mignolet pulled off a stunning save from a power pact Aladerweireld header.

With Spurs now in the ascendency one wondered if Klopp would make the change to reassert the sudden decrease in energy levels.  In attempt to hold the ball up the top end of the pitch Origi entered fray for the disappointing Coutinho.

Two minutes after the substitution Spurs were back on level terms.  With Milner seemingly tiring and receiving less protection Alderweireld found Dier down the right, his cross came of Lamela into the path of Rose who dispatched his shot with the expertise of a seasoned striker.

It was disappointing because Liverpool had dominated the game for nigh on 70 minutes and but for our profligacy in front of goal and a stray flag the game should have been sown up.

But should doesn’t pay the rent.

As the game closed out it was notable for Daniel Sturridge replacing Mane in with 3 minutes to go.

Man of the Match: James Milner – Was imperious throughout and says a lot for his performance that he didn’t look out of place at left-back.  Took his penalty with the composure we have come to expect and one can only hope if Liverpool are not to buy a left-back in the death throes of the transfer window, Alberto Moreno recognises that concentration is for 90 minutes.

Sadio Mane was at times unplayable in the first half and appears to have a fully rounded game.  If his goal hadn’t been chalked would have probably gone on to dismantle Spurs.

Joel Matip was excellent. He plays in a quiet mode and looks comfortable as one would expect from a player with experience as a holding midfielder.  Strong in the air and very comfortable on the ground, he snuffed out the threat of Harry Kane without much fuss.

Jordan Henderson had a very strong game in an unaccustomed holding role and deserves a mention.

Daniel Sturridge is undoubtedly the best striker at the club and if a few of those chances which went begging had dropped to him we would almost certainly have gone home with a win.  The problem is that Sturridge doesn’t press as well as Origi, Lallana or Firmino and many of Liverpool’s chances emanate from the pressure the pressing game causes.  That said, one would like to think that Liverpool under Klopp are not a one-dimensional team and can play to Daniel Sturridge’s strengths.  He came into the game on the back of two goals yet, Divock Origi who appeared undercooked in the fitness stakes came on barely adding anything to the equation.

Klopp once again, in my opinion, failed to react quick enough to bolster his team once Spurs began to get a foothold in the game and as such the home team bossed the final 20 minutes.  Kevin Stewart’s (or Grujic/Lucas or that matter) substitution may have come 25 minutes too late as Victor Wanyama who had erstwhile been anonymous began to show up.

Teams: 13 Michael Vorm, 2 Kyle Walker, 4 Toby Alderweireld, 5 Jan Vertonghen, 3 Danny Rose, 15 Eric Dier, 12 Victor Wanyama, 11 Eril Lamema, 20 Dele Alli, 23 Christian Eriksen, 10 Harry Kane

Subs: 7 Heung-Min Son, 9 Vincent Janssen, 25 Joshua Onomah, 29 Harry Wicks, 21 Luke McGee, 33 Ben Davies, 38 Cameron Carter-Vickers

Liverpool: 22 Simon Mignolet, 2 Nathaniel Clyne, 32 Joel Matip, 6 Dejan Lovren, 7 James Milner, 20 Adam Lallana, 14 Jordan Henderson, 5 Georginio Wijnaldum, 19 Sadio Mane, 11 Roberto Firmino, 10 Philippe Coutinho

Subs: 13 Alex Manninger, 15 Daniel Sturridge, 16 Marko Grujic, 18 Alberto Moreno, 21 Lucas Leiva, 27 Divock Origi, 35 Kevin Stewart

Referee: Bobby Madley

Attendance: 31, 211

Burton Albion 0 Liverpool 5: Liverpool saunter past Burton in EPL Cup

Coming off the of back of a humiliating away defeat in the Premier League came into the game with strong looking eleven with Joel Matip making his first class debut in England, with Emre Can, Sadio Mane, James Milner and Divock Origi returning to the starting line-up.

Burton started quickly and may have been slightly unlucky not to have been given a penalty early on after clumsy tackle by Lovren.

Stung into action and with the Mane at the head affairs drifting in centrally, the Senegalese International eased a beautifully weighted pass inside the right-back only for Origi to shoot straight into the midriff of the keeper Bywater.  Liverpool starting to get on top, looking comfortable and Firmino saw his header from Lallana’s cross well saved low down by Bywater.

With Liverpool beginning to quieten the crowd with Mane offering incision to their possession game, it was no surprise to see the ex-Southampton wide man instigate Liverpool’s opener.  Collecting the ball on the right from Milner’s cross, he stopped dead before exploded by Damian McCrory to cross low in for Origi to cleverly flick past Bywater.

The second wasn’t long in coming.  After Lallana missed a glorious headed chance close in, Nathanial Clyne raced passed past the defence before delivering a ball of pinpoint accuracy onto the head of Firmino to nod home.

Liverpool coasting with Can offering security in the holding role, sitting in between Lovren and Matip allowing Clyne and Milner to push forward and with sixty-one percent possession in the first-half.

The threat Mane poses running with the ball is evident as opposing defenders retreat with the danger of him either launching into a mazy dribble or passing on the run as he did on a few occasions in the first half.

With Liverpool in cruise control the second-half was all about not allowing Burton to get a foot hole in the game and with that in mind it was apparent we were pressing more than had been apparent in the first-half with the front three defending from the front.

That said with Liverpool beginning to relax Burton adopted a more aggressive stance taking over in the possession stakes and while not causing any immediate menace in front of goal, there were moments of unwarranted pressure near the Liverpool box.

Any unnecessary pressure was relieved when from Milner’s well delivered corner Tom Naylor inadvertently put the ball through his goal.

Klopp with game seemingly won made a couple of changes bringing off Firmino and Lallana for Sturridge and Wijnaldum respectively.  Can was soon to join them on the side lines after worryingly turning his ankle awkwardly, to be replaced by Kevin Stewart.

James Milner with Liverpool cantering decided to get in on the act in open play, wandering of his perch on the left, played a one-two with Mane took him in behind the defence into the right of the area, before playing the ball across the face of the goal for Sturridge to tap home for his first of the season.

Sturridge was not finished.  Mane this time out on the right as with Arsenal goal, sped around the defence before cutting inside to pass to Sturridge.  The striker instantly controlled and with very little back lift smashed home an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net.

Team:

Burton Albion: 13 Stephen Bywater, 15 Tom Naylor, 5 Kyle McFadzean, 14 Damien McCrory, 10 Lucas Atkins, 7 Lee Williamson, 19 Hanza Choudhury, 36 Jackson Irvine, 11 Lloyd Dyer, 9 Stuart Beavon, 12 Calum Butcher

Subs: Ben Turner, 23 Ryan Delaney, 1 Jon McLauglin, 8 Chris O’Grady, 16 Matt Palmer, 21 Ben Fox, 22 Marcus Harness

Liverpool: 22 Simon Mignolet, 2 Nathaniel Clyne, 32 Joel Matip, 6 Dejan Lovren, 7 James Milner, 20 Adam Lallana, 23 Emre Can, 14 Jordan Henderson, 19 Sadio Mane, 27 Divock Origi, 11 Roberto Firmino

Subs: 5 Georginio Wijnaldum, 13 Alex Manninger, 15 Daniel Sturridge, 17 Ragmar Klavan, 18 Alberto Moreno, 28 Danny Ings, 35 Kevin Stewart

Man of the Match: Sadio Mane - Provides pace and incision in the final third with the ability to go either way.  Played important roles in three goals and his impact already has one thinking that with Ojo injured Klopp doesn’t have a replacement to turn too should he get injured and that was apparent against the Burnley.

Granted the opposition could have been stronger, but Sturridge showed his class poaching and flashing home goals in clinical fashion.

Joel Matip looked very comfortable on the ball, but there will be days when he will be under a lot more concerted pressure.

Worryingly, we lost Can to an injury, hopefully it’s not too bad.

Attendance: 6,450

Referee: Simon Hooper

Burnley 2 Liverpool 0 – Clarets leave Reds feeling hungover

Blog by dedlfc (David Douglas)

It felt like deja-vu.  We entered the match with apparently legitimate thoughts after having beaten a top side like Arsenal in our first game we needed to follow up with a convincing or at least another win against with respect to a Burnley a side there for taking to show our potential to do something major this season.

Pre-match: Unsurprisingly makeshift fullback James Milner replaced woeful Alberto Moreno's place at left-back. Excellent to see our main striker Daniel Sturridge back in action as well, though it's a shame that it's because of an injury to our pace and power package Sadio Mane who alongside Coutinho was our spark last weekend.

GOAL (Vokes 2 mins) Before you could even blink we were already one nil down with Mignolet again getting beat with the first shot that came his way before we even got a chance to get a foothold into the game.

Our wobbly back line, the usually reliable Clyne with loads of time inexplicably gave the ball away which led to Vokes thumping home past Mignolet from long range for a cheap goal to gift Burnley the perfect start to the match.

Liverpool began the first ten minutes of this match in the same way that they did against Arsenal last Sunday, with the back foot and with very little intensity which was especially disappointing at the pressing game was not evident.

Once we settled into this game, after conceding a stupid goal we got nearly eighty per cent possession putting together some good attacks, but with no cutting edge and not having Mane in the side today was a big miss. All our shots were mainly from long range with Coutinho hero of last week’s victory having numerous efforts off target.

GOAL (Gray 37') Totally horrendous from us. Burnley builds the world's slowest counterattack after 30 straight minutes of away possession. Sturridge loses the ball in our attack and then doesn’t try to regain it.  Impressive debutant Burnley midfielder Stephen Defour intercepted Sturridge’s pass and then going forward the Belgian International capped a solid debut by providing an assist to Gray. Klavan failed with a last ditch tackle before the striker skipped past him to dispatch his shot beyond Mignolet. Our defence is embarrassing. Burnley had two goals from two attempts.

Welcome back, to reality guys. We are again losing to a side just promoted from the Championship we have a seasonal habit of losing these games and until we can address this problem we will not get anywhere in this league.

Halftime: At 2-0 down we have got it all to do in the second half, but Klopp still has some tricks up his sleeves with Can and Origi on the bench.

The second half went very much the same way as the first half. Lots of Liverpool pressure (this time closer to 85%), zero result.

The only glimmer of hope was a shot in the 52^nd minute from Firmino which was pushed away by Burnley keeper Heaton.

Origi replaced Sturridge in the 64^th minute, who still looked to be shaking off the rust. Still no sign of our best midfielder Can.

Alberto Moreno comes on to change the narrative from last week and heroically save this match in the last fifteen minutes. I'm assuming. (Nope, never mind that’s me dreaming again!!!)

Marko Grujic also came on after 78 minutes to provide some sort of spark for the midfield with an excellent long range shot which was parried away well by Burnley keeper Heaton.

Fulltime: Our first defeat at Turf Moor since Boxing Day 1973.

That was a very frustrating and ultimately disappointing 90 minutes of us not being able to break through Burnley's average, but disciplined defence. We have got to find a way to get results in these types of matches or this season is going to be very long indeed – our inconsistency is at times a complete embarrassment.

Our midfield pairing of team captain Henderson and Wijnaldum is just not going to work for us long term as they are steady players but have no craft between the pair of them.

Henderson as the captain is not cutting it for me – there is just no fight or fire in his belly on days such as this.  The sooner we change the captain to someone with more passion and more determination to push the team onto change bad results into good wins we will continue to be inconsistent. 

Henderson is at best a squad player should not be leading the side out week in week out if he is not the best player in his role.

Totally omitting Emre Can and not starting with the pace of Origi were Klopp mistakes which ultimately cost us points in this game.

Wijnaldum has so far shown a lack of taking ownership and has been so quick to pass the easier square ball or ball backwards to a team mate rather than taking a game by the scruff of a neck – Klopp needs to find his rightful position in the side as so far in the current midfield role in my opinion he has been a disappointing addition to the squad.

Sturridge looked distinctly off the pace (definitely not match fit) and he had a bad habit of dropping short to play in the attacking midfielder role rather than playing on the shoulder of the last defender as our main striker – being our main striker is his main game he needs to return to doing that or there is no purpose him being in the side as we have so many attacking midfielders capable of doing what he did today.

Klavan was outpaced by Burnley forward Gray on quite a few occasions and looked like the 4^th best centre back at the club – we now need to unleash Matip as our main centre back signing is yet to play for the club.

The sooner Karius is fit to make his LFC Premier League debut the better, as Mignolet never seems to pull off unexpected saves.

The honeymoon period is finally over for Klopp he needs to stop being everyone’s friend (players included) and whip this team into shape so that we can at the least compete for a top 4 spot because if we are inconsistent like this current yo-yo side we will struggle to finish 8^th let alone get into the top 4.

We have no excuse of having European games to distract us so Klopp has a whole week (most weeks) to work on our problems which are mainly defensive and also finding another player apart from steady Lucas that is able to play the defensive midfielder role midfielder before the transfer window closes.

We face top four contenders Spurs away next week and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if we again raise our game and get points away to Spurs as that is exactly what this team does, beat top sides and does not have the nous to break down organised defences of average teams. Extremely frustrating start to the season.

Liverpool: Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Klavan, Milner; Henderson, Wijnaldum; Lallana, Firmino, Coutinho; Sturridge

Substitutes: Manninger, Matip, Moreno, Stewart, Grujic, Can, Origi

Man of the Match: I refuse to give a man of the match for this performance as to get over 80% possession and lose a game 2-0 shows a distinct lack of a cutting edge and this needs to be addressed by Klopp or this is going to be another very disappointing season.

Attendance – 21,313

Referee – Lee Mason

Editorial comment:  What irks about this performance was the fact that nothing really changed throughout.  We dominated and Burnley were happy to concede possession and it seemed it was pre-planned.  Without Sadio Mane, the decision not to play Sturridge as an out and out striker was folly.   While, he may have lacked sharpness his ability in front of goal will always make him a threat and that is something we generally missed.

I am yet to be persuaded that Jurgen Klopp is totally convinced of Sturridge’s ability to lead the line in a pressing attack.

The defence is struggling, but even so I was disappointed to see Alberto Moreno dropped. Either, sell him or instil the confidence in him to keep going.  Love him or loath, having James Milner at left back may put a steady Eddie in situ, but we lost incision down the left had side.   A quality holding midfield is the cry, but to be honest and I would be happy with a dominant and powerful central midfielder.

One loss does not suggest the end for any player least of all Wijnaldum, but the team above does needs leaders, players able to pick games up by the scruff of the neck and against Burnley and while we had plenty of ability on show, whether we had enough out there to do the dirty work is open to debate.  Almost at every counter-attack Burnley hit the Liverpool backline without much trouble which suggest the Liverpool midfield was porous in the extreme and Klopp may have his work cut out to provide protection to his defence from these group of players.

It was disappointing Klopp was unable to change the ebb and flow of the match and it’s a storyline we’ve seen all too often replacing the striker rather than a change of formation and it’s disappointing that with the injury to Mane there isn’t there isn’t another pacey wide man to fill the breach in his absence.

The days running up to the close of the transfer window will be fascinating and hopefully we will be busy, but unless the board are willing to lift the wage structure it will be difficult to get in any top class acquisitions at this late stage.

Arsenal 3 Liverpool 4: Liverpool almost throw away golden start

Make no mistake the victory was deserved in this season’s opener.   While Arsenal may have been superior in the first half, poor defending contributed to Arsenal’s first two and arguably their third goal. 

Liverpool came into the game without the gifted yet brittle Daniel Sturridge, James Milner, Mamadou Sakho, Joe Gomez and new signing from Mainz, goalkeeper Loris Karius.  Arsenal themselves were without their first choice back four, Ozil and strikers Welbeck and Giroud.

For a time in the second half we were compelling if not exhilarating watching.  The front four Lallana, Coutino, Mane and Firmino were connecting at will, almost telepathic with flicks so good they seemed almost choreographed. 

Sadio Mane’s pace and directness gives the attack a new focus, a different dimension.

If Arsenal were the better team it wasn’t by much with neither team totally dominating in the first half hour, although the home team took over the role of the presser.  That was until Alberto Moreno hoping to rebuild his career after his infamous non-tackle in the Europa Final, stepped into the fray.

Unbelievably, the left-back on the corner of his own area, mistimed his tackle when it appeared he was in pole position to get the ball only to bring down Theo Walcott.  It was what it looked, foolhardy in the extreme, rash by its very nature.  Fortunately, for the Spaniard Mignolet guessed correctly and pulled off an excellent save from Walcott’s penalty kick.

As if he is not capable of learning lessons, Moreno struck again and this time Walcott made him pay.  Lallana lost the ball 40 yards out, but implausibly the full-back had sauntered out of position leaving Walcott to fasten on to the through and bury the ball into the far corner.  One too many mistakes over the previous season and his team going one down was purely down to his ineptitude and his inability to take on responsibility.

Liverpool were not out of it and a superb move ended with Coutinho feeding  Georginio Wijnaldum only for the new central midfielder’s shot easily saved by Cech.

A minute before half-time, Coutinho starting to drift inside was brought down by Holding 30 yards out.  The magical Brazilian sauntered up to the ball delivering a curler of outstanding precision searing into the top corner of Cech’s net.  It was a devastating blow just before half-time.

We started the second-half as if we learned something from the Europa Cup Final getting on the front foot immediately and for the next twenty minutes we were imperious, overwhelming Arsenal at every turn.

Four minutes in and we were ahead.  Wijnadum, picking his head on the left side of the area after being found by around the corner flick by Coutinho, floated a beautiful cross into the path of Lallana who controlled on his chest before dispatching past Cech on the run.  A goal of striking, but delicious simplicity.

Liverpool were now on fire.  Nathanial Clyne who impressed in his only game at the European Championships attacked and blew by Monreal before whipping in his cross for Coutinho to open up his body to sweep in. It was the final touch in a stunning move which involved 19 passes.

We were now playing some irresistible football and while Arsenal may have had an inexperienced backline, in this mood Liverpool would have dismantled many a backline.

If Monreal thought his chastening experience had ended there was more to come.  Mane, impressing on his debut roasted the covering Chambers on the outside before driving past the full-back and cutting in past the two defenders to curling a left-foot shot into the top corner.  A staggering piece of impudence by a player of undoubted talent.

The player ran over to celebrate with his manager who reciprocated giving him a piggy back which Klopp was later to regret implying it led to a loss in concentration.

Oxlade-Chamberlain dancing in from the left blitzed past Clyne and the resulting cover to shoot in off a Lovren deflection past Mignolet.  Arsenal would soon score again with Chambers glancing in substitute Cazorla’s superbly delivered free-kick.

What should have been comfortable win after being 4-1 ahead, led to slightly frayed finger nails, but truth be told if was Liverpool through Henderson and Firmino who came closest to scoring as time ran out.

It could have been better, but three points is exactly what was required in a season where we will not play at home until 10 September and was victorious against a team who we had only beaten once in the last 21 attempts in all competitions.

Man of the Match:  Philippe Coutinho – quite simply a wonderful footballer at his best who was at the forefront in helping to destroy Arsenal in a sixteen-minute period.  His free kick looked to be too far out, but was struck with precision, whip and pace into the top corner and his second finding himself close in on the end of Clyne’s cross is where he needs to be more often that not.

Mane was brilliant on his Liverpool Premier League debut.  His pace and directness gives us potency we haven’t had on the flanks since Raheem Sterling and his slight frame belies his strength.  Wijnadum, was steady grabbing one assists and it was notable how he readily got forward to support the attack, but with Henderson also of the same mind set, Can’s return cannot come soon enough as Liverpool need his sensibilities in defence mode.

While Klavan  had a balanced debut, Moreno was appalling first giving away a penalty and then as is his won’t losing concentration and wondering out of position to allow Walcott the time and space to open the scoring.  With Hector rumoured to have signed a new contract time is running out to replace this wondering wastrel of undoubted yet uncontrolled talent.