The knives were out for Liverpool following a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham at Wembley last week, and a response was needed at Anfield against Huddersfield on Saturday.
And a response is exactly what Jürgen Klopp’s side delivered.
Despite a missed penalty from Mohamed Salah in the first half, strikes from Daniel Sturridge, Roberto Firmino and Gini Wijnaldum secured three points the Reds needed to regain confidence and boost their Premier League campaign.
Social media was heaving with negativity following the defeat to Spurs, particularly in the direction of centre-back Dejan Lovren who had a nightmare of a game – probably the worst in his Liverpool career.
But Liverpool fans sighed with relief as Lovren picked up an injury just before the game and Ragnar Klavan had to step up to replace him in the XI. It was a cautious sigh, as Klavan is not that much better than his Croatian teammate, but the Estonian did well to help the Reds keep a clean sheet on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds amassed 74 percent of the possession and registered 24 shots at goal and surprisingly, David Wagner’s side registered a big fat ZERO shots in the box with no clear-cut chances throughout the game. A perfect clean sheet for Liverpool.
Another statistic to note is that the Reds have not lost a game that Daniel Sturridge has scored in since the Europa League final in May 2016. In 2016/17, he scored in seven games and six were victories. So far this season he has only scored twice but the Reds have won both of those games, both at home as well.
It seems that Klopp will be utilising Sturridge a lot more, having started him on Saturday in the absence of Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane. He has been used as an impact substitute for much of this season, but Klopp will look to start a striker more often and rotate the squad in the busy winter months. Whether he gives Dominic Solanke a chance to start remains to be seen.
Rhian Brewster also had a great weekend with the Young Lions as England’s U17 side won the World Cup in India on Saturday, contributing with a goal and finishing as the tournament’s leading goalscorer and scooped the Golden Boot as well. An amazing feat for the 17-year-old and he will be one to watch for years to come.
It wasn’t such an enjoyable weekend for the Under-23s as they suffered a 1-2 defeat against Leicester City U23s at Prenton Park in the Premier League 2. Dominic Solanke started in this fixture despite playing with the first-team on Saturday in what was his first U23s appearance since joining the club. Unfortunately, the striker was shackled by Leicester’s well-drilled defensive unit before being withdrawn just after the hour mark.
All-in-all, it wasn’t a bad weekend for Liverpool and despite fans who feel the need to moan about anything and everything, spirits were fairly high ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Maribor at Anfield.
There is nothing better than hearing the Champions League anthem under the floodlights at Anfield. Roll on Wednesday.
Up the Reds!