Five goals, a clean sheet and into the third round of the League Cup – couldn’t have asked for much more, really.
Liverpool ran out 5-0 winners against Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion with goals from Divock Origi, Roberto Firmino, an o.g. by Tom Naylor and a brace from Daniel Sturridge.
It was as comfortable a win as it could get. Burton didn’t really have a sniff at goal throughout the match and Liverpool dominated proceedings across the 90 minutes. This win, though against Championship opposition, gives everyone a bit of an uplift after the weekend’s disappointing display. If smashing a team five goals to nil won’t do that, then I don’t know what will.
The match was slightly hampered by injuries to Divock Origi and Emre Can. The former seems to have only suffered cramp whereas the latter, unfortunately ,looked a tad more serious. Hopefully, both will be back in time for Tottenham on Saturday.
In a match where there were quite a few good performances, here are the three players who I think made the difference:
Sadio Mané
How we missed this man on the weekend. Not many players come into a team and make such a massive difference from the word ‘go’ but Mané’s done exactly that.
He assisted two goals and was a constant threat down the right-hand side. I’m not sure about other fans feel but he’s already become the player who excites me the most when he’s on the ball.
His pace, his trickery and his movement on and off the ball make him refreshing to watch. The way he links up with Nathaniel Clyne and the forwards as if he’s been playing for Liverpool for years, I just love watching him play. It’s still early days but I expect big things from Mané this season.
Daniel Sturridge
I know he didn’t start the game but any player who gets two goals in under 20 minutes on the pitch is a shoe-in for this list. Once again, he’s just shown why we persist with him through all his injuries. He just gets goals like it’s nothing, no nonsense just gets the ball in the back of the net – easy as you like.
He still likes to drift into midfield a lot but he was in the right position inside the 18-yard box for both goals. A tap in from a James Milner pass and a cool left-footed finish into the bottom corner. A good run out for the striker.
Plus he finally got a chant from the fans! About time…
Divock Origi
Jürgen Klopp said pre-match that Divock Origi needed to find his rhythm, against Burton, Origi was definitely on song.
Playing the full 90 minutes, he was a constant threat in behind the back four. He missed a chance early on but the intent showed that he was ready to do damage, and he got his reward. Scoring the opening goal with a cheeky back-heel flick in the first 15 minutes pretty much set the tone for his performance.
With more games like this he’ll give Klopp a real headache for his future starting line-ups.
