With eight changes to the side that played at the weekend, Liverpool were decidedly disjointed and struggled to seize control of the match. Spurred by their travelling fans, Leeds played with little fear and were scrappy in defence and direct in attack, causing occasional problems for the home side. To their credit, Leeds battled in their first trip to Anfield in over a decade.
The first half, in particular, saw the Merseysiders struggle to find any genuine threat despite possessing the ball for large stretches. Apart from Gini Wijnaldum forcing a strong save from Leeds goalkeeper Marco Silvestri and Emre Can’s failed toe-poke that veered wide of the mark, Liverpool took very few chances. At times, it seemed as though Liverpool wanted to dribble the ball into the goal, rather than taking chances and shooting on target.
The second half exhibited more frustration. Yet the last two matches have proven that Liverpool are now focusing the requisite patience and resilience to grind down an opponent. Here they harnessed that growing capacity against the Championship side. There were scares from the Yorkshire club, to be sure, but the Reds eventually broke through and pulled away.
Here are four findings from the match.
Comments.
Loading comments…