Liverpool hosted Cardiff today in the Premier League and as the only side from the top 6 in action today they knew a victory would see them take the top spot in the league, for 48 hours at least.
Jurgen Klopp stuck with the same 4-2-3-1 formation from Wednesday but made 3 player changes. Dejan Lovren came in for Joe Gomez in defence, Alberto Moreno took over at left back ahead of Andy Robertson and Adam Lallana took the place of Xerdan Shaqiri in the attacking midfield roles. The other slight change seemed to be that the front 4 were more fluid and didn't stick to 1 specific role. All 4 of Salah, Mane, Firmino and Lallana seemed to play in different roles throughout the game. Neil Warnock had seemingly accepted defeat before the game with his comments in the press conference and set his team up to do nothing but hang on and get beat by as small a margin as possible.
Liverpool came out hot and seemed to pick up from exactly where they left off from Wednesday night with the Anfield fans not having long to wait before they could cheer on a goal. Salah collected a ball from a wide position following a Liverpool free-kick and laid it off to Trent Alexander Arnold to cross into the box. The cross was stopped but fell to Mane who turned and struck a shot at goal but the ball was once again blocked by a defender getting his body in the way. It deflected to Wijnaldum swung for it but could only direct it across the goal. Mo Salah had continued his run from the wing and managed to arrive at the far post just in time to turn it in and score with just 10 minutes on the clock.
The remainder of the first half was as dominant a performance as you will ever see as Cardiff continued to sit back and allowed Liverpool to control the ball. At the break, they had 85% possession and the ball had barely spent a moment out of their attacking half. Virgil Van Dijk headed the ball against the post from a corner and Adam Lallana saw his header cleared off the line late in the half yet despite all the dominance Liverpool went into the break with just the single goal lead. The formation had worked brilliantly on Wednesday and saw the forwards connecting better than they have done all season, but I feel like the constant fluidity worked against them as nobody seemed to be able to find their rhythm. Apart from the goal, which saw them have excess bodies in the box due to the free-kick the goal ultimately lead from they didn't manage to muster another shot on target until that late Lallana header in the final action of the half.
More of the same followed after the interval, Liverpool had more of the ball but were not turning it into chances. As the game went on Cardiff were able to get the ball a little bit more and did pull off a few breaks. It was still comfortable for Liverpool but it was obvious something had to change. Klopp to his credit did make the change and brought on Shaqiri in place of Lallana, reuniting the front 4 from Wednesday's game. Shaqiri came on and seemed to settle the forwards into their roles, he took up the right wing, Mane stayed on the left, Salah went up top with Firmino playing behind him. The effects were almost immediate as just a few moments later the ball was played forward from Fabinho to Firmino. He gave it to Alberto Moreno who'd joined the attack down the left wing and gave it to Mane on the edge of the box. Mane turned taking it past a defender and then rocketed it low and hard into the corner of the goal. With 25 minutes left in the game, Liverpool had finally managed to get another shot on target and had doubled their lead to make it 2-0.
It was looking like it may shape to be a perfect game for Liverpool until the 77th minute when Cardiff made a rare attack and brought the ball forward up the right wing. A deflected cross from Junior Hoilett found it's way via Van Dijk to the front post and Callum Paterson was on hand to put it away. It was the first league goal Liverpool had conceded at Anfield all season and prevented them breaking a record for consecutive home clean sheets. No blame can be placed on Van Dijk, but with that deflection, Cardiff managed to half the deficit with their first shot on target in the whole game. At this point, Cardiff fans may have been hopeful of pushing on and stealing a historic point and questioning if they could have even got more from the game had they been a bit more attack minded.
As Cardiff seemed more willing to attack, the game began to open up. They saw more of the ball and more of their attacking half but that also left them more exposed at the back. The game started to open up and Liverpool's quality began to show as they looked the most likely to get the next goal. On the 83rd minute, Shaqiri won the ball, passed it to Salah who then took it into the box and returned it to the Swiss playmaker. He comfortably controlled it with a simple touch and then placed it into the bottom corner of the net scoring his first Premier League goal for Liverpool and the 3rd on the day restoring the 2 goal advantage. The game remained open and minutes later Liverpool added another from a swift counter-attack much like they had done many times last season. Fabinho won it back in their half and gave it to Mane. He then handed it over to Salah before making a beeline towards goal, Salah saw the run and waited for just the right moment to slide it back to him, taking the 2 Cardiff defenders out of the game and leaving Mane with just the keeper to beat who he did so by dinking the ball over his head, grabbing his 2nd of the game and making it 4-1 to Liverpool.
They will be sad to have conceded a goal but overall it was another good performance for Liverpool and an amazing result which sees them go top of the league. The new formation may actually be something Klopp continues to go with and while it wasn't as effective in the first half with Lallana in one of the advanced roles things definitely seemed to click once Shaqiri came on. Liverpool fans will be hoping that Spurs can do them a favour on Monday and take some points from Manchester City so they can remain in the top spot for longer, but regardless of what happens with them, remaining undefeated after 10 games is an amazing achievement and Liverpool fans will be over the moon with the start the team has made to this season.
We will next see The Reds in action on November 3rd when they head down to London and take on Arsenal.
Looking forward to the next match versus Arsenal...
Certainly should be a good game, there is usually a lot of goals when they face off.
Hi jclark,
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Thank you so much!
I'm sure you meant the first they had conceeded at home all season. Nice match summary. I wish Liverpool the worst of lucks when they head down to the Emirates. Sorry, buddy 😝
I wish the evening didn't take a bad turn with the events from Leicester. Thoughts with LCFC 😢
Yes mate, good catch! Thanks for reading.
Should be a good game, I've been blown away by some of the goals Arsenal scored lately but still believe Liverpool will thrash them!
Absolutely tragic to hear what happened yesterday, my heart goes out to everyone at Leicester.
Liverpool always have a good start to the season. Our fear is always them maintaining the momentum. Perhaps this season could be theirs but for the sake of my dear Arsenal, I want to see us win this season
Liverpool have started an excellent season, 8 wins and 2 draws, that leaves him without any defeat, City and Chelsea have not lost too, it seems that these three teams will fight the league championship this year. I have sympathy for United but I do not think Mourinho will be able to make the most of the players this year. Liverpool are starting very well, and I think Klopp is an excellent coach.
Indeed, this is their best start in the Premier League era. I do not share your sympathy for United haha!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Yes, I knew you did not share it, Liverpool and United are direct rivals, haha.