Liverpool 3 – 1 Sheffield United – The PL Postmortem

This was a game that simply had to be won, after both Arsenal and Manchester City won their respective games on the previous evening. The statistics of the match showed a dominant home performance, however, as with the weekends win against Brighton, Liverpool took their time getting the points in the bag.

Below is how the team lined up, with match details following.

Liverpool’s Starting Eleven

Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk (c), Joe Gomez, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz

Subs

Harvey Elliott – Mohamed Salah (60 mins), Andy Robertson – Ryan Gravenberch (60 mins), Curtis Jones – Dominik Szoboszlai (73 mins), Cody Gakpo – Joe Gomez (90+4 mins)

Goals

Darwin Núñez – 17 mins,  Conor Bradley (own goal) – 58 mins, Alexis Mac Allister (Luis Díaz) – 76 mins, Cody Gakpo (Andy Robertson) – 90 mins

Important Match Stats

Possession- Liverpool 83% – 17% Sheffield United

Total Shots Liverpool 30 – 5 Sheffield United

Crosses- Liverpool 38 – 7 Sheffield United

Corner Kicks- Liverpool 13 – 1 Sheffield United

Counter Attacks- Liverpool 3 – 1 Sheffield United

Goalkeeper Saves- Liverpool 3 – 6 Sheffield United

The First Half

The opening period of this game was very much a case of attack versus defence, as the Blades manager, Chris Wilder, set out a five-man defensive line to thwart the Anfield giants. After some probing and territorial dominance, it would be the lack of urgency from the visiting keeper that would open the scoring, after a laboured clearance hit the back side of Darwin Núñez, before dribbling into the net. Continued domination of the first half was let down by indecision and a lack of cohesion, as Ryan Gravenberch tried to make the spectacular happen when he was in and around the box.

Luis Díaz was ferocious in his dribbling endeavour and his evasion of multiple tackles should have resulted in the second goal, if not for poor shooting from his teammates. Both Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister had good long-range attempts, whereas Mohamed Salah was largely shackled in a tentative opening 45-minutes. The defence was largely untroubled and Caoimhin Kelleher’s only note worth participation was a late save from a well struck shot.

The half ended with the reds one nil up and in a good position to close out the game.

The Second Half

On resumption of the second half, no changes were made as the reds seemed to coast into game management. The lack of fire resulted in an unlikely equaliser, as a deep cross was connected by the Sheffield United attacker, before the unlucky Conor Bradley deflected into his own goal. The crowd erupted to push the Merseyside club back into action as key changes were made to bring life back to the home side.

Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch departed the field to add more balance to the side, with the former hamstrung by the number of defenders around him. The ushering of Alexis Mac Allister into a preferred attacking midfield position allowed him to take control of the game, before further substitutions soon allowed the Argentine score a tremendous goal from a neat Luis Díaz assist.

With order restored and a sense of renewed purpose to Liverpool’s men, more chances came and went before Andy Robertson flighted a wonderful cross into the box, which Cody Gakpo headed home to close the nights scoring. The nervous nature of the game is clearly in keeping with what is to come, as despite some unrequited scares, the reds finally got the win and returned to the top of the Premier League.

Final Thoughts

This was a game that should have been dealt with far easier, though once again, the use of Alexis Mac Allister in the holding role is proving too disruptive to the system and overall control of the game. Once the changes were made by the German manager and a firmer grip of the pitch was attained, the lingering hopes were taken away from Sheffield United and the points landed at the team that showed far more enterprise.

A trip to Manchester United comes next, with just eight games to go…

Pre-Game Prediction

Liverpool 5 – 1 Sheffield United

Steven Smith