
Villarreal 2 - 3 Liverpool - Man Of The Match
Villarreal 2 - 3 Liverpool - Man Of The Match
Luis Diaz
He changed the game, and is still pushing to become Liverpools most important forward.
He came on after an horrendous first half, and forced the Spanish back line to stretch as he hugged the far touchline. He threatened and threatened, and finally got his goal with a well taken header.
What a signing this man had been, and he was able to relax a stressed fanbase …

Villarreal 2 - 3 Liverpool - The Player Ratings
Alisson Becker - 7.5
The most assured pair of gloves in football, and with no fault for Villarreal’s first half goals, made one brilliant one on one stop. Became a spectator until Liverpool scored, which was a welcome sight. Had very little from there to deal with.
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 6.5
After given a much needed breather at the weekend, the playmaking fullback came back in for Joe Gomez. He looked shaky, and unsure of how to play the ball …

Observations: Half Time against Villarreal
Only half time, that will be the message Jurgen Klopp gives to his lads after they beat Villarreal 2-0 at Anfield. But it was a truly dominant first half, with the yellow submarine only managing a single shot in the whole match, and even that could barely be called such as Lo Celso stretched to get to the ball. It was a pretty much perfect display from Liverpool. The counter-press was particularly impressive today, as Fabinho had a fantastic game …

Liverpool 2 - 0 Villarreal - The Player Ratings
Alisson Becker - 7.5
The monster keeper was a certain starter, but he was a virtual spectator through the first half. Concentration (and whether to grab a snack from the crowd) was all he had to do, before a poor Villarreal corner on 73 minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 9.0
After a tricky derby, he was tasked with showing more composure. He seemed keen to show strength in defense from the off, and he really started to purr as the half …

Are Liverpool 'listos' for La Liga signings?
AIPro's Dave Hendrick took his A-Eye Scouted series to Spain this week for a look at La Liga. Journalist Karl Matchett was along for the ride to give his take on eight hidden gems of Spanish football that could be a fit for the Reds. I'm not sure which contributor was Don Quixote and which was Sancho Panza on this epic search but they came up with some intriguing suggestions for the next Spanish Liverpool star.
La Liga has always …

Liverpool's run in: Cometh the hour, cometh the Studge?
Hello, hello. Here we go. It's getting closer.
Southampton at home, West Ham away, Middlesbrough at home.
"Six points will do us," says Fred. "Nah, we need seven" offers Barry. "Don't be so pessimistic, four points and Champions League football is as good as ours" predicts Bob.
Maybe all Liverpool need is Daniel Sturridge, in order to go above and beyond those totals.
To say that Sturridge is a secret weapon is unfair. Everyone's aware of his qualities, to the …

Kop Still Silent For Daniel Sturridge
Liverpool fans can be called as biased as others wish to. But Daniel Sturridge is the best English striker at the moment, probably in the past decade. Any fan, neutral or supports another club who are reading this can throw Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy’s goals & assists tally at me any day you want, but that will never change my opinion. So here’s why you should change yours.
Sturridge has been a phenomenon since he’s signed for Liverpool in …

Not wanting Europa League Football is a mistake
There’s a train of thought currently steaming along that suggests not competing in Europe next season is actually a blessing for Liverpool and Klopp. That it was a Champions League or bust situation, and bust was worth more than a spot in the Europa League.
It’s a train of thought that I won’t be boarding, and have never truly understood.
In both the run up to, and the wake of our two cup final appearances, and ultimately failures, this season, …

Relive Liverpool's route to the Europa League Final
Liverpool 0-1 Grazer AK – 28th September, 2000.
Liverpool 0-0 Rapid Bucharest – 24th August, 2004.
Remember them? Nope, me neither.
Rarely do European campaigns begin with barnstorming victories and scintillating football. The two aforementioned results won’t live long in the memory, but the Reds ended each season with European silverware to their name.
The same could be true if we overcome the Europa League specialists Sevilla on Wednesday, but it’s only in recent months that Reds all over the …

James Milner: Divisive, but increasingly brilliant
I have spent the whole of James Milner’s long and illustrious career trying to decide how good he is at football. He has forever baffled me.
He was tipped as England’s new wonderkid when he burst onto the scene for Leeds United back in the early 2000s, but barring a few glimpses of class, I remained unconvinced.
His spells at Newcastle and Aston Villa seemed to pass me by a little - I was too busy obsessing about how good …