Liverpool Away Lost 3 – 1, Núñez should have been sent of and Liverpool make 6 subs
Coach Jurić announced a team to face Liverpool that had only Sulemana as a recognised forward, but they actually used the winger wide in midfield, with Fernandes the most advanced of our players. We needed clever tactics, a level of commitment not always evident and a below-par performance from the hosts, and we had all three in the opening half, despite losing Bednarek through concussion after he collided with Manning after 15 minutes. Bella-Kotchap has been good enough to play for Germany in the past and attracted the attentions of Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in the summer so it’s a mystery why Saints rarely consider him good enough for their starting line-up – not surprisingly he fitted well enough into what was turning into a gritty performance. And then we took the lead! Van Dijk and Becker must have considered their defence impregnable after stealing a midweek win in Paris but when they fannied around between themselves, Smallbone was able to nip in and send an angled pass into an empty net; credit Fernandes as well for making things awkward for Virgil and his mate. The Reds made three changes at half time, but the longer the game stayed at 0-1, the more frustrated they were likely to become – indeed a petulant swipe at Walker-Peters by Núñez just before the break attracted the attentions of VAR in case a red card might be due… but at Anfield? Obviously not! So of course it was Núñez who put his side level six minutes after the restart, reacting quicker than Bella-Kotchap to Díaz’s low cross. Parity lasted just a couple of minutes as Núñez got himself involved again, inducing a penalty (converted by Salah) as a result of Smallbone’s ill-advised challenge. I don’t suppose Ivan ever had a plan B, more a case of just keep the score down, and to be honest he doesn’t have the resources to do much else. We did, though, try Sugawara and Archer for the disappointing Dibling and Grønbӕk, then Lallana for Smallbone and, late on, Tall Paul and Aribo for Big Les and Manning, but nothing of note ensued in terms of threat. Sugawara in fact was to concede a penalty for the sort of handball he’s never going to get away with in the age of VAR so Salah was able to grab a second without having done an awful lot from open play. Well, we didn’t expect anything, and nothing was just what we got… at least it wasn’t a thrashing, though.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates for you to choose from:
2. Kyle Walker-Peters. Started at right back, moved to midfield when Sugawara came on and ended up at left back when Manning went off.
6. Taylor Harwood-Bellis with a performance that might have caused Liverpool’s recruitment team to pay attention – Van Dijk’s past it, isn’t he?
18. Mateus Fernandes, certainly for his first half efforts.
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