Competition: Carabao Cup 3rd Round
Date: 19/9/17
Venue: King Power Stadium
So, the Reds were back in action again tonight. September is a gruelling month, match-wise for most clubs, second only to December.
Liverpool have stayed true to their form of recent years by struggling in the immediate aftermath of the first international break of the season. A 5-0 trouncing at City was followed up with two home draws (2-2 v Sevilla, 1-1 v Burnley). Now, they begin a run of four away games in a row, including a trip to Moscow.
Klopp made eight changes from the starting eleven against Burnley. It was great to see Danny Ings’ name on the bench on his long road to recovery while it was surprising that Lazar Markovic was also named among the substitutes. Coutinho started again in his quest to get back to full match-fitness. He was joined up front with two summer signings, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Dominic Solanke.
Leicester were all change as well. Jamie Vardy wasn’t in the squad while the likes of Mahrez, Okazaki and Iheanacho were on the bench.
Teams
Leicester lineup – Hamer, Amartey, Dragovic, Morgan(c), Chilwell, Albrighton, Iborra, Ndidi, Gray, Slimani, Ulloa
Subs: Jakupovic, Iheanacho, Musa, Okazaki, Mahrez, Benalouane, Choudhury
Liverpool lineup – Ward, Flanagan, Gomez, Klavan, Robertson, Henderson(c), Grujic, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Solanke, Coutinho
Subs: Karius, Milner, Moreno, Ings, Markovic, Woodburn, Alexander-Arnold
The Action
Liverpool settled quickest at the King Power Stadium. They had the lion’s share of the possession in the first half, and even more so in the opening twenty minutes.
On five minutes, Grujic and Coutinho combined before the Brazilian midfielder released Robertson on the left. Robertson played in a great ball which found Oxlade-Chamberlain at the back post. His low effort was blocked brilliantly, however, by Ben Chilwell.
Danny Ward didn’t have much to deal with in the first half but in the ninth minute he did win a race to the ball with Slimani and cleared his lines with no problems whatsoever.
Coutinho was impressive in the first half. In the eleventh minute, he went on a mazy run just outside the Leicester box. Everyone seemed terrified of fouling him. Coutinho eventually got his shot off but Hamer beat it away at the near post.
Along with Coutinho, Andy Robertson was giving a good account of himself. His delivery really does have a consistency about it that Liverpool have lacked from a full-back for many years.
It was Coutinho again who had the next shot on goal after a tidy one-two with Solanke. Unfortunately, his finish was easy for Hamer to deal with once more.
There were more half-chances for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Solanke, while Coutinho had a free-kick which was miles off target.
Coutinho created a good chance for Solanke just before the half-time whistle with a delightfully chipped ball over the top of the Leicester defence. Just when Solanke needed a little ‘dink’ over the onrushing Hamer he caught it too heavy and his shot went over the bar.
Half-time: Leicester 0 – 0 Liverpool
Ben Woodburn came on to replace Philippe Coutinho at half-time.
At the start of the second half, Grujic gave away a foul giving Leicester a free-kick just outside the box and in a very dangerous area. Thankfully for the Reds, Gray’s shot was well over the bar.
Gray had another strike on goal ten minutes later after he ran at the Liverpool defence. This time his shot was dragged well wide of Ward’s goal, however.
Marko Grujic was booked for a rash challenge on Ndidi in the 57th minute. Leicester were notably having more a say in the game after the break. No surprise, really, considering Coutinho had gone off.
In the 65th minute, Leicester took the lead. Their corner was initially cleared by Grujic but the Foxes got it back into the box. The ball found its way to Iborra on the penalty spot. He cushioned a header back down for Okazaki. Okazaki’s shot was hit into the ground but it had enough in it to bounce past the diving Danny Ward. 1-0.
Two minutes later and Oxlade-Chamberlain pounced on some sloppy Leicester defending. He had a snapshot from the edge of the box go just over the bar.
After a quick free-kick in the 72nd minute, Woodburn made some space for a shot from wide on the left. He came so close with his effort. It went just over the bar at the far corner of the net.
A minute later, Danny Ings made his long-awaited return to first-team football after two forgettable years due to injuries. He replaced Wijnaldum as Klopp had to push for at least an equaliser in the last twenty minutes or so.
Ings almost got a flick onto a deflected cross in the 77th minute. Everyone else seemed to fall asleep but Ings anticipated where the ricocheted ball was heading. His quick thinking wasn’t rewarded as his lack of a connection let him down.
The next minute and it was all over. Leicester made it two through Slimani. He hit a bullet of a left-footed strike from just outside the box. Again, Danny Ward was powerless to prevent it from hitting the top corner of the net. 2-0.
Leicester were flying now. Gray had a great shot from the left just tipped around the post by Danny Ward.
Leicester held firm for the remaining minutes, although, in truth, it wasn’t quite clear where the Reds could get any creative spark from at that stage. In fairness to Ben Woodburn, he had looked lively since coming on but there wasn’t a lot of team cohesion to work with around him.
Grujic tried a wayward shot from long range in injury-time. That was about as close as Liverpool would come in the closing stages.
Final Score: Leicester 2 – 0 Liverpool
Liver pool’s problem is our defense and the defense problem is Henderson,so it’s safe to say Liverpool’s problem is Henderson.Aside from him not worthy of the armband,he together with players like chamberlain don’t deserve to play for us….the latter am surprised klopp of all people signed him….what a waste of money….i judged him from the onset and i knew this would happen if we purchased an arsenal player.i in particular was very content with the burnley game cos we could easily have lost if hendo had played…..the english national team shouldn’t make the same leadership blunder as Liverpool have and give him the captain’s band….he can’t lead anything not to talk of a team….how many of the top clubs in Europe would like to have him on their bench not to talk of the first team
The fact of what wrong with our beloved LFC team is the Manager and his cameo crap. I read your previous articles and I couldn’t agreed more, If I were Klopp I would tender my resignation letter long time ago, this man will not WIN anything with LFC, Four Cups Final and we couldn’t win any of them and in all the finals LFC has always leading only to batched, HuH!!!!. The world has been telling him to BUILT our defence solidly he refused, you cannot build a house without solid Foundation to support it.
i cannot agree with you more on this thompson….you hit the nail right on the head….i think klopp has a lot of disrespect for we the fans….the reason we are worried is not cos of our recent slump or decline in form but the constant retrogression since last season…..and yet not tangible solution….klopp is a joke….simple as that….ancelotti could have been a better option….i was one of the advocate for klopps coming but I must confess am disappointed
These Klopp out comments are absolute nonsense.
Something I posted elsewhere:
It’s been a disappointing few weeks and watching the team feels like repeated groundhog days. Everyone’s disappointed and things feel a little bit stale. But in my view the staleness is wholly down to not signing VVD and Keita, who Klopp rightfully saw as difference makers.
I felt all summer that FSG would give Klopp license to spend as he saw fit but was signing VVD and Keita dependent on some sales? Was Klopp handicapped by the lack of sales? Did Edwards give Klopp false hope that we could land at least one of VVD or Keita, even at the very last minute? Is this why Klopp didn’t have a plan B?
My feeling, looking at Klopp’s exasperation last night, is that maybe he isn’t to blame after all for the failure to secure defensive reinforcements. Rather than him being stubborn maybe he was simply let down by Edwards which is a plausible line of argument given the VVD cock-up. Just a note for the FSG critics – it would have probably cost 150m at least to sign both VVD and Keita this summer and they were already over priced at 140m (which we were apparently willing to pay despite not being successful). I think the fact that we were clearly willing buyers show that FSG aren’t scared to back their manager.
The past 4 results don’t actually change our position or objectives for this season. What they’ve done is undermine fragile confidence to compound the sickening blow to team morale because of Coutinho’s poorly timed transfer request and subsequent “strike”. Now that he’s decided he wants to play again, he’s out of fitness and form and is playing for himself and not the team. I thought his decision making was his headless chicken worst last night and he has a fair few games like that every season. Too often he plays for himself and not the team. Shooting on sight instead of passing to better placed team mates and so on. Sadly we need him because he does offer the threat other players lack. Once Mane is back he’ll hopefully be forced into a more playmaking selfless midfield role which should give the team better balance.
My honest opinion is that if Klopp can’t succeed at LFC then nobody can, such is the financial disparity between us, Chelsea and the Manchester clubs. We can’t spend crazy money every season because we have to comply with FFP. I don’t think Klopp’s skillset is suited to overcoming the parked bus which we face regularly but a trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino may be the key to compensating for that if they can all stay fit. What Klopp does well is being the underdog, and we are still the underdog, particularly in the top 6 games and the ko stages of the CL. He can also build teams and improve players, if given time.
The Premier League is an altogether different animal to the Bundesliga. Klopp knows that now. With the financial mismatch and the sheer number of rivals in England I think it’s actually unfair to *expect* Klopp (or indeed any manager) to win the title. The hope has to be that he can build a team that can start to knock on the door. We’re all desperate for number 19 but it won’t happen this season. VVD and Keita might have had us knocking on the door but once the transfer window shut it was clear that we had to recalibrate expectations.
What’s less clear, the more I think about it, is why we didn’t bring in alternatives. January may be too late to right the wrongs and even if we land VVD it won’t be until next season that he’ll be fully fit and firing alongside Keita. I do hope, if that happens, that Klopp is still around to see out the project. We may have frustrations with the manager, and no manager is perfect, but on balance he’s still the best man for this job.