How to sum up the 2-2 barnstormer with Tottenham in a succinct and concise fashion? Hmm…. We can say that Liverpool were the better side for the opening 70 minutes and deserved to lead through Mo Salah’s goal. Then Spurs boss made a couple of substitutions that would ultimately change the game.
No alarms, no surprises: why can’t we play like that every week!? The 3-0 win over Huddersfield on Tuesday was almost effortless in its simplicity: despite the odd glimmer from the Terriers we were rarely troubled at the back, and Emre Can’s early deflected goal offered a level of comfortability.
Liverpool’s failure in the FA Cup is becoming something of a joke now, and this time we can’t even blame a weakened side for our third consecutive exit at the fourth round stage.
In between the moments of unadulterated magic, the 2017/18 campaign has been littered with periods of abject frustration for Liverpool fans, and Monday’s 0-1 defeat to Swansea was the perfect case in point.
We told you we could do it! There was a general sense of scepticism amongst Reds fans ahead of the Manchester City game las Sunday, but as predicted by this column there was nothing for us to fear at a rampant Anfield.
If there’s one thing that nobody needs reminding of, it’s the fact that a week is a long old time in football. Barely a week after celebrating a 2-1 win over Everton in the FA Cup, courtesy of a debut goal from new man Virgil van Dijk no less, came the news that Philippe Coutinho would be leaving the club to join Barcelona.
So here we go again: less than a month since the last Merseyside derby, we go at it again with our blue neighbours this week in what is an almost immediate opportunity to gain revenge on Everton for the point they stole back in Anfield.
We suggested that the blockbuster clash with Arsenal would be something of a goal-fest, and to be fair it hardly took investigative powers of Columbo-esque proportion to come to that conclusion. There was no need to call in the detectives to analyse just how we beat Swansea 5-0 on Boxing Day either.
If Christmas is a time for giving, then the Premier League fixture-list compiler has come up with the goods in arranging this Friday night shootout on the capital. Okay, so the trip to London on a Friday evening is a bit of an annoyance for the travelling red army, but at least it gives us a chance to get some late-in-the-day shopping done. And a Christmas do in the capital will do very nicely!
It has been a week to forget for Liverpool FC, and one that has confirmed a rather glaring weakness in our armoury. Two matches at Anfield against teams that have come and parked the us have yielded just two points and a solitary goal; an indicator that, whether the ‘fab four’ of Coutinho, Mane, Salah and Firmino are selected or not, we simply have to be smarter in the manner in which we go about our business.