Premier League Review: Meslier’s Heroics Beat Liverpool
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LIVERPOOL — Leeds United traveled to Liverpool standing in 18th place in the Premier League before the match. Manager Jesse Marsch knew he needed a result if he was going to keep his job. Liverpool prepared Anfield in anticipation of their visitors.
Jurgen Klopp was aware that he needed to find the right rhythm with his team, who have been quite inconsistent this season. But, lo and behold, it would be Leeds that found the win on Saturday, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield.
As mentioned, both teams headed into this game needing a positive result. Liverpool was looking the better of the two sides after getting a 3-0 win over Ajax on the road. In the Premier League, though, there was a lot of work to be done.
With only two wins in their last five games, including a 1-0 loss to 20th-place Nottingham Forest, the Reds desperately needed points to get up the table. While it seems like they won’t be in the title race this season, they are through to the next round of the Champions League and can fight for a top-four finish if they can gather themselves in time.
On the other hand, Leeds is fighting to stay in the Premier League. Even though we’re not halfway through the League yet, Leeds has been a bit underwhelming at times and need to find their way back in.
Image Credit: This Is Anfield
Klopp has had trouble finding his strongest XI and formation. With no left winger due to Sadio Mane now playing at Bayern Munich and Luiz Diaz and Diogo Jota injured, it’s been difficult to play with the traditional 4-3-3 that the Reds have become accustomed to. So the formation of choice was a 4-1-2-1-2.
Allison started in goal, with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold in the full-back positions and Van Djik and Joe Gomez in between them, the same back line from the famous 2019 Champions League winning team. The midfield saw Fabinho play a more defensive role, with Thiago and Harvey Elliott positioned in the middle of the park. Roberto Firminho was in a CAM role with Darwin Nunez and Salah playing in a striker partnership.
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Marsch opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation. Meslier continued his role in goal. Struijk and Kristensen played in the full-back positions, with Cooper and Koch in the center-back positions. Roca and Tyler Adams started in the midfield, with Aaronson having a more advanced role. Summerville and Harrison played on the wings, with Rodrigo as the lone striker.
The game started with sparks, with Liverpool nearly scoring within 50 seconds of kickoff. Salah made use of a miscommunication between Leeds keeper Meslier and his defense and played a floater in goal. Leeds will be grateful that Struijk made it back in time to head it away.
Liverpool would also have a mix-up in the back, but they wouldn’t be as lucky as their opponents. In the fourth minute, Joe Gomez was under pressure and attempted to play the ball back to his keeper. Allison wasn’t ready for the pass back and stumbled to get back to the ball. Rodrigo remained alert and slipped past Van Djik to put away an easy chance, giving Leeds the lead.
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Liverpool would switch on the attack to get ahead, and they nearly did so in the 13th minute when Gomez played a long ball from defense to Robertson on the left flank. The Scot would pass the ball to Firminho, who hopped over it and left it for Nunez, who played a clean through ball back to the Brazilian, who was unable to take a shot thanks to a decent save from Meslier. One minute later, Robertson would cross the ball in the middle again, and this time, Salah would get a volley off from point-blank range and put away his effort to equalize for his side.
Both teams would get close again on a handful of occasions, with an Aaronson effort hitting the crossbar being the closest. Salah almost got a chance to double his tally, but smart defending kept the game level. Both Meslier and Allison would keep their defenses organized to prevent any more goals from going in.
Image Credit: This is Anfield
The second half would shift in Liverpool’s favor, with Salah and Nunez getting a handful of chances. However, Meslier would hold firm and keep his goal empty. He made a fantastic save from a tight Henderson effort and another from a good strike from Nunez.
Leeds was pressured to stay in their own half, but they would find a way in at the 89th minute. Gnoto would gain possession on the left flank and drag Milner and Jones out of position to open up the play in the middle. He would send the ball in the middle, where Bamford got a slight touch to hand it off to Summerville, who would take one touch and catch Allison by surprise to shoot with his second. It would slip past the keeper and give Leeds the upper hand in the match’s dying moments.
The goal would be enough to give Leeds the three points and dig them out of the relegation zone to 15th while sending Liverpool down to ninth.
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Liverpool’s inconsistent form is quickly becoming an inconsistent season. Klopp can’t find the flow his team needs to succeed. There are massive question marks about how this team finished second with 92 points last season are now ninth with only 16 points. They’ve already lost twice as many games this season as they did last season.
In addition, they have a long list of injuries, including Jota, Diaz, Konate, Arthur, and Matip. There are also a handful of players flying to Qatar for the World Cup in the coming weeks. Klopp will want to use this time to look for players to strengthen the squad and add depth.