Football News: Liverpool v Luton Town

Liverpool v Luton Town

In some respects that game lived up to the classic ‘game of two halves’ saying. The first half saw Liverpool create plenty of opportunities but just unable to convert them. The team were by far the better team overall, but the finishing was woeful. Added to that, the crowd were just not at it either and were a bit quiet, even though the team was providing intensity and some really good play, right up until the shot at the end of it. The second half felt different. The team came out and you could feel the determination to turn it around and get the three points. Along with that, the crowd seemed to be ready to help out (and not need Klopp to call for more from them as he did towards the end of the first half) and you could feel the atmosphere building along with the pressure on Luton. Eventually it all got too much for a Luton team who gave their all but were simply outclassed.

What was most pleasing from a Liverpool perspective is the way that everyone was in it together, a team from top to bottom, with John Achteberg setting an example by being the one to step in to talk to the officials when there was an issue, taking the yellow card so that Klopp would not get a touchline ban. The fans played their part too, building the atmosphere up like a pressure cooker at the start of the second half when the team needed their backing, letting them know they were with them. At this point of the season, especially with the number of injuries Liverpool have, it is not really about the performance, just the result, but that was also an excellent performance to go with it.

Luton gave everything, but they were just not good enough. They are highly reliant on the goalscorer Ogbene’s pace, but his lack of end product is an issue for them and they lack quality throughout the team. That was their biggest issue, the lack of quality, they constantly tried to play out from the back but gave the ball away repeatedly as the press overwhelmed them. What I did see from them is enough heart, desire and willingness to give them a chance of staying up despite the lack of quality in the team. I do though wonder why all the fuss surrounding Barkley, who is an extremely average player and offers little bar poor decisions on the ball most of the time. Talk of him returning to the England squad must be a joke as he is nowhere near that level.

Quick notes on the players:

Kelleher – he had a mixed game, should have done better on their goal and his kicking…