Liverpool 6 Leeds United 0
Luis Diaz lights up Anfield as the Reds continue to chase down Manchester City at the top of the League.
Luis Diaz lights up Anfield as the Reds continue to chase down Manchester City at the top of the League.
LIVERPOOL 6
(Salah 15, Matip 30, Salah 35, Mane 80, 90 and van Dijk 93)
LEEDS UNITED 0
This evening’s Man of the Match didn’t register on the lengthy goals list above, could and should have done and when tiring on 85 minutes was replaced by Divock Origi to yet another Anfield standing ovation. Luis Diaz deserved the loud acclaim ringing around this grand old football stadium for it was he who made Liverpool tick this evening with his non-stop running, lightening speed, energy and sheer enthusiasm to stamp his place squarely in this exciting team, and a team made even more exciting for his recent inclusion. Press/Counter Press and Transitions are all buzz phrases from today’s game and he’s already slotted perfectly into this team following his recent transfer from FC Porto and is already well on the way to becoming yet another darling of Liverpool’s “Kop”. In between the six goals tonight Diaz never stopped running or pressing for a contested ball and a possible transition into attack. He roasted past Luke Ayling at one point in the first half before twisting him back and forth as the attacking move petered out, but he set the tempo in the first five minutes alone with two chances, and one from some great interplay with Sadio Mane. He was the instigator of the second goal with an initial pass to Selah that led to his precise pass in turn to a marauding Joel Matip, who scored with a minimum of fuss on the half hour and when Mo Salah scored the second of his two first half penalties on 35 minutes to make the score 3–0, the game was up for Leeds United, and the game was already over as a contest.
Luis Diaz would supply an outrageous quick over the head flick for Fabinho but the Brazilian missed perhaps the easiest of the mountain of chances the Reds created tonight. He also lit up the start of the second half with a “no look” cross into the penalty area that was all skill, bravado and sheer confidence. When Diaz wasn’t in tonight’s spotlight, Curtis Jones was, as he slowly grew into the game more and more and exploited the space in midfield left by a tired and dishevelled Leeds United team. A neat one/two with Mo Salah resulted in Jones shooting high over the bar before a similar footballing move, this time with Andy Robertson, forcing a low hard save from the Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier. Other non scorers this evening also shone, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold almost settling into a permanent attacking midfielder role at times and threatened again and again in the second half. Fabinho strolled around with an air of being untroubled by the whole game and Thiago was on supreme form, both in the sense of the shape and the pressing nature of the team as well as that much vaunted “Quarterback” role with his inch perfect passes all night.
To score six goals in any game is rather obviously pleasing, but to share these goals between your colossal central defenders and your quick fire central strikers speaks volumes for the spine and set up of this Liverpool team. Mo Salah’s two penalties were both scored clinically and his striker partner Sadio Mane scored two predatory strikers goals. Joel Matip’s usual surges forward cause consternation in defences as they don’t know how to handle the extra man, but they usually end without Matip himself finishing so brilliantly from a cheeky “nutmeg” Mo Salah pass. Virgil van Dijk’s unchallenged header from an Andy Robertson corner on full time should have been saved by Meslier, but it wasn’t, and the Reds had six of the best and yet again, they’d never risen higher than third gear all evening.
I have a soft spot for Leeds United and that has softened further this season as I can’t help but admire their Argentinian Manager Marcelo Bielsa and a side depleted of injuries yet with an attacking spine of Adam Forshaw, Raphinha and the speedy Dan James. They play kamikaze football at times and Sunday’s home defeat to Manchester United took a lot out of this already threadbare team. Leeds barely threatened all evening save a five minute spell in the middle of the second half. But even then the game was up and with the Reds only trundling along in third gear they still scored a further three goals in the final ten minutes to give the score line a more realistic look.
Yes, realistic look!
For it could so easily have been 8 or 9–0 this evening.
Leeds are in a pack of five or six teams that are looking over their shoulders at Newcastle United and Burnley climbing the table and there are at least one or at a stretch two, relegation places to be filled. Leeds are in as much trouble as Everton, Brentford, Aston Villa and Leicester City, and at least one if not two of these teams are going to fall through the trap door into the Championship.
The Reds on the other hand have now won 9 consecutive games in all competitions and head to Wembley for the League Cup Final on Sunday in as positive a position and with as strong a squad as they could possibly wish for. Just 8 or 9 weeks ago, and before even digesting their Christmas turkeys, many Reds had already “conceded” the League Title to Manchester City. Now, there are a dozen games to go and 36 points still on offer and the distance between the Reds and Sky Blues has been reduced to a mere 3 points. Sunday is the culmination of the first competition of the English football season and the Reds will be at Wembley to contest it. Come May, and the culmination of those dozen games in the league the Reds will still be competing for silverware, and possibly the biggest, largest and most respected trophy of them all too.
Thanks for reading. Please see a variety of links below for just a taster of the various pieces of writing on Liverpool FC in my archives.
Liverpool 3 Norwich City 1
Thiago and Henderson inspire the comeback that keeps the Reds in the Title Race.medium.com
7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 3: AS Roma, 4th Round, 1st Leg of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, 15th and 16th February 2001.medium.com
A final stroll through Scrapbook Lane and around the Fields of Anfield Road — Part 11
Liverpool FC Season(s) 1997–98 through 2002/2003. An end of season extravaganza and seasonal extra, just for you!medium.com